


I Never Planned On You

by runners345ready



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: 5am, College AU, F/M, Female Runner Five, I'm not going to put all the characters, Mild Smut, no zombies, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-22
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 07:01:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6319330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/runners345ready/pseuds/runners345ready
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pushing the door open, Five's not exactly certain what to expect on the inside.  It's certainly not Sam Yao.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written (and shared) anything like this. Not sure how it is, but I'm just going to vomit it out into the world. I love these characters so much. I just borrowed them and took absolutely nothing of the plot. So no spoilers. Zombies are my writing thing, so it's a bit weird for me to do an AU of a zombie story with no zombies. Don't judge me too hard about the existence of this thing, I had writer's block and this is the only thing I could get out. It is very much longer than I thought it would be.

This was out of Five's comfort zone. This was so far out of Five's comfort zone. This was three laps around the track, a marathon, and a brisk morning jog away from the comfort zone.

How did Five find herself in a dark club with blush coloring her face and probably spreading to her ears and chest? Two people were at fault. Maxine Myers and Sara Smith. It was really Sara's fault, but by principle it was Maxine's. It was her Bachelorette party. But Sara organized it. But how the hell did Sara know about this place? Clubs, sure. That Five could handle that. Strip club, girls dancing on stage? Did nothing for Five. But this... this was a participation thing. God, this was way far over a line.

"Why don't we just go to a strip club like normal people do for these?" Five asked the group at the first stop at the bar. Everyone was drinking and having a good time. Talk had already begun on heading out towards the Shack.

"Because Five. None of us can seem to agree what kind of stripping we what to go see." Jody was three (or four) sheet to the wind already. The girl could not drink more than two without getting hammered. She's had four and two shots.

"Besides, this place will have something for everyone. You have to have something you'd like, don't you Five?" Sara teases.

"Well, yeah." Five blushes, really hating this conversation. "But this is a bit weird, isn't it? Just and go have se... sleep with a complete stranger."

"We're all adults here." Eugene grins across the table from the table, knowing just how embarrassed Five is. Five had tried to go to Eugene for advice on this and he had only grinned and made innuendoes and generally made everything worse. "You can call it what is it. We're going out to have a good fu..."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay. That. Is no one else weirded out by this?" Five glances around at the five faces around the table, receiving shrugs and shaking heads. "So, it's just me. Marvelous."

"You don't have to come Five," Maggie assures.

"No harm in that Five. You can back out at any time." Sara says with raised brows.

Five knew what Sara was doing. Posing a challenge. Thinking she could get Five to take the bait. They'd been long time rivals on the track and friends almost as long. Sara thought she could say a few words and get Five to do exactly what she wanted. Unfortunately, she was right. Five is not one to back out.

So she's now in the lounge of the club, hoping the darkness is enough to keep anyone from seeing how red in the face she is. They'd all been given a form to fill out. Real, paper and clipboard forms like in the hospital. With questions like: 'Preferred contraceptive protection' and 'Preferred gender of partner' and 'other preferences' with check boxes labeled: 'role play' and 'BDSM' and a line for descriptions.

Five's pen shook as she filled in the form to the best of her ability. She wasn't a virgin by any stretch, but definitely not experienced per say. A few boyfriends and awkward nights. Certain didn't get around like some of her friends do. Not that she didn't enjoy sex, but this... This was something different all together.

But of course as soon as Sara had challenged her, she couldn't back down. And she had a bad feeling it was going to lead to regret.

Her friends were lead off, one by one, until Five was left in the lounge alone. Instinct was pretty much screaming at her to bolt. Door was right there. Just get up and go. Leaving the country was starting to seem like a highly viable option as well.

But then someone is standing in front of her, glancing at a clipboard in their hand.

"Five, is it?" He asks, looking up from the clipboard but down on Five.

Five casts a longing glance at the door then back at the man.

"Yes," She says hesitantly.

"Come with me." He says and turns.

One more look at the door and Five decides to follow. It couldn't possibly be that bad. Oh, that was a bad thought. Thinking things like guaranteed exactly the opposite. And that was just Five's life.

Five carefully trails the man's broad shoulders as he heads down a hall lined with doors. She sends a worried look at each of the doors, not really wanting to know what's going on behind them. She can't hear anything but the music from back in the lounge. Pretty glad about that, actually.

The man finally comes to a stop in front of a door. Five stops behind him, rocking back on her heels and crossing her arms behind her back, trying to control her breathing. As it is, it her pounding heartbeat was reminiscence of how it is after a good run.

"Right inside here. You'll be seeing Sam," He says very matter-of-factly. Like he does this all the time, probably does.

'Seeing,' Five musses. 'That's an interesting way of putting it.'

"Um, thank you."

With a small smile, he leaves Five alone with the door.

'Now or never, not and say we did. I can still run far away.' Five takes a deep, steading breath and puts a hand on the doorknob.

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't curious. As weird as this whole thing was, it had been a long while since she'd been with anyone. Somehow, this could be... fun? Maybe.

Pushing the door open, Five's not exactly certain what to expect on the inside. It's certainly not Sam Yao.

******

He's casually sitting on the couch, flipping through a book when the door opens and the girl creeps inside. Sam knows right away the signs of nerves, seen it plenty of times. But then he gets a good look at the girl. He finds himself unable to stop staring. She's beautiful.

"Hello there," He says in a sultry sort of voice.

'Oh good God, his accent,' Five thinks while getting a good look up and down with widening eyes. The angle of his eyes indicates that he's of an Asian decent, but Five can't figure him out further than that.

"Hi," She says sort of squeakily.

Three metal piercings in the cartilage of his right ear, carefully mussed dark hair, a sliver of a tattoo peeking under his shirtsleeve on his forearm. Exactly the kind of boy you would never take home to mother, unless you wanted to give her a heart attack.

"And you are?" He asks, setting his book aside and leans forward with his forearms on his knees.

It takes her a second to remember how to breath, then a few more for how to speak, then a little too long to remember her name.

"Five," She answers.

"Five?" He raises a questioning brow.

"Yeah, everyone just calls me Five," She says carefully, twisting her hands in front of herself.

"Okay then, Five. I'm Sam Yao."

'Does he have to work at having his voice sound like that, or does it just come naturally?'

"So..." He starts, grinning at how the blush spreads across her face.

"So." Her eyes dart around. "Um... how does this normally... go?" She questions shyly.

"However you want it to go." He smiles gently. In his experience, the shy ones are much more likely to walk out. But he really wants this one to work.

'I've got to have this girl in the bed. Or on the couch. Or up against the wall over there. Maybe all of that and more.' He tries to keep his smile from changing at the thought. She needs gentle encouragement, not a desperate guy trying to charm his way under her clothes.

"Alright, uh..." She looks down and away and Sam can't have that. Can't see those eyes that way.

"Come here," He suggests, patting the couch cushion beside him.

Her eyes dart towards the spot, to his face, away and back again. A few long seconds of silence before she takes an audibly deep breathe and steps closer. It looks like she puts incredible effort into every step, but finally she collapse onto the couch next to him.

"Turn around," He suggests and she stiffens. "Just trust me."

She studies him dubiously through slightly narrowed eyes.

'God, she's even more gorgeous up close,' He thinks.

Slowly, she does as asked, casting a glance back at him. She jumps when his hands touch her shoulders.

"Relax," He whispers. "It's just a back rub."

"Right, right," She mutters under her breath and exhales shakily.

He works on her tense shoulders for a while, trying to get her to loosen up. It doesn't help much. She's wound pretty tight.

"This your first time?" He whispers, voice very close. Five can feel his warm breath on her cheek.

"Yes," She answers without thinking. "I mean here," She adds hastily. "Not in general though, no. How sad would that be?"

Sam chuckles in her ear.

"You'd be really surprised," He informs.

"I actually don't want to know, okay?" She mumbles towards him.

"Okay," Sam promises and feels her start to relax under his hands. He knows a thing or two about how to use his hands. "What brings you to the humble Shack today?" He asks casually.

"Bachelorette party," She answers sort of dreamily.

"Getting married, are we Five?" He tries to ignore the pang of disappointment.

"Not me. Friend. Maxine."

'Girl of few words,' He notes and decides to let it drop, pretending he doesn't smile at the thought that she's single. This is work, not time to think about personal relationships.

She rolls her neck back, hair brushing his nose. He's as close as he can get without pressing his body against hers. God, he wants to be closer.

"If you want me to stop at anytime, you just have to say, okay?" He mutters in her ear, brushing her hair aside.

She nods silently, and he sees that her eyes are closed.

"I actually need an answer, Five. Verbally," He says with seriousness. For a second he's about to ask her for a safe word, but gets the feeling it'll tense her up again and undo all the work he's done to get her relaxing into him. Though it might be worth it to see the blood rush to her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, okay." It's barely over a whisper, but it was said so he'll take it.

Slowly, he leans forward to press his lips into the side of her neck, making certain she doesn't flinch or pull away. She doesn't, instead leans into him. And that's good, very good.

He wraps his arms around Five and pulls her flush against his chest.

'God! Really, really good,' He thinks while settling his arms comfortably and pressing more kisses along her neck and up her jaw, seeking lips.

She turns her head and finds his lips. Her kisses are sweet and soft. Not desperate or needy. Sam likes that.

Something mumbled passes her lips that he doesn't catch, even with the proximity.

"What was that?" He questions withdrawing so he can hear what she says.

"This is crazy. I don't even know you." This is just loud enough to hear, whispered like a secret.

"Do you want me to stop?" He loosens his grip around her body but lets his hands drag down the front of her shirt with a feather-like caress.

Her head shakes slowly.

"Talk to me, Five." He mutters into her skin.

"God, no. Don't stop." Her voice borders on desperate. Sam grins into the corner of her mouth.

"If you say so." His hands slip under her shirt. The deep sigh is very rewarding.

Five turns on the couch to meet him full on, tangling a hand into his hair and pressing even closer, practically trapping his wandering hands between him and her stomach. But he still has enough range of motion to slip further up her blouse, relishing in the gasp on his mouth.

"Still alright, Five?" He asks, letting his hand brush at her bra then sliding down again with the slightest pressure.

She starts to nod but then remembers the need to speak. Takes long enough that perhaps she needed to remember how to speak first.

"Yes, fine," She forces against his lips. "Ke... Keep going," It stumbled over, like she's not used to asking for what she wants. Sam guesses she normally is taking things for herself, but not so for matters of intimacy.

"Do you want me to take your shirt off?" Putting every ounce of passion into those words is in no way difficult. He's wanted to do that and more since the moment she walked in the door.

"Go ahead," She agrees, still stealing kisses from his wonderfully responsive mouth.

Sam's fingers are adept at undoing the buttons without looking. Five doesn't think too long on the skill coming from practice. Even with it unbuttoned, it won't leave her shoulders until she releases her hold on his head and slides it off. And then she gets the idea that he is waiting for her to do just that.

Taking a shaky breath, less from nerves now and more from sweet breathlessness, she moves to slide the shirt off and lets it fall away to the floor.

Sam leans back to examine her with a hungry look in his eyes. It changes to confusion when he notices what she's wearing.

"Are you wearing a sports bra?" He questions with a quirked eyebrow.

"I like them. They've comfortable," When he doesn't say anything or make any moves, Five gives her own confused expression. Sam quite likes the wrinkling of her nose when she does. "Why? You have a problem with sports bras?" She sounds a few steps away from being personally offended. Sam laughs and watches the tension diffuse once again, the tiniest smile gracing her face.

"Not at all, just think it would look better on the floor." And... Yes, there's the color to the cheeks, that shy glance away that quickly returns to him. He could really come to enjoy that.

"Well..." She hesitates. "You'd look pretty silly just staring at a sports bra on the floor." And he laughs again, stopping in time to see the smile widening on her face.

"Suppose you're right. There are much better views." Leaning forward, he waits for her, letting her take the initiative. Practically forcing it.

Five moves slowly, but finds his lips again and kisses, hand surprising him when one settles on his knee. Not high enough to be indecent. And definitely not high enough to satisfy.

"This is good?" He asks, hands again exploring extensively on her torso.

"Mm-hm," Not quite a spoken answer but it'll work.

He sets a hand on top of hers, wanting nothing more than to guide it where he needs it. But she moves her hand out from under Sam's.

He's about to pull back but then both of Five's hands find the bottom of his shirt. She hesitates slightly and he opens his eye to meet hers.

"Is... Is this alright?" She asks.

"Whatever you want," He informs.

She pulls back slightly and bunches the fabric in her hands then pauses.

Sam lets the silence hold, watching her as she thinks.

"Something wrong?" He finally queries.

"Well, I'm thinking that after this, there's no leaving," Her voice comes out muttered.

"Not true. You can leave whenever you want."

'Leave? God no, don't leave.' He's fighting to keep his breathing under control.

"I meant for me. I wouldn't want to leave." Her face turns brightly red as she looks away and Sam thinks she must miss his pleased smirk. "You know, you're not exactly what I expected." She's delaying now. But Sam doesn't push.

"Oh? Is that a bad thing?" He leans back on his hands, smiling.

"No," She admits hesitantly. "No, I guess not." Then he lifts his arms to let her remove his shirt.

"Jesus, didn't it hurt to get that pierced?" She asks after giving him a careful once over.

"A little. But everyone seems to like it, so it was worth it." He smiles at her, feeling her fingers hesitantly touching his stomach. "Do you like it?"

She glances away from the piercing and shrugs.

Sam finds her hand and interlocks his fingers with hers. She doesn't pull away, instead lets him guide her. His eyes fall half-lidded and dreamy.

"I think you like it." He just barely catches her little smirk.

"Well... yeah," He admits with a sigh.

Five grasps for the back of his head and pulls him into a hurried kiss. He makes a small sound of contentment and presses forward. Neither of them can find the want to pull away even to breath. Their hands fall off to the side still locked together.

Sam feels the fingers brushing his bicep over his tattoo and opens his eyes to glance at the hand hesitantly touching.

"I will admit that I like tattoos," Five mutters into his mouth, rewarded by a smile turning against her lips.

"You do? Have any for yourself?" He lets off to study her and that shy little smile of hers.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Her forehead tilts and presses into his. "Care to find out?" She turns positive pink when saying this.

"If you insist," Sam says then presses back into her, having a silent but very raucous celebration in his head.

Lowering her back to the couch and following her down, he's kissing her all the way there. He settles himself on top of Five, pressing his body against her but not putting too much weight, holding pressure in just the right places.

'Okay, neck kisses are good. Really good.' She thinks, letting his lips and warm tongue trace her jugular. And, oh my God! What was he doing with his hips? Whatever it was he'd better not stop.

He seems to find a favorite spot on her neck, worrying at it with teeth and suction, probably following her reaction to the touch there.

Suddenly Five remembers herself and gently pushes his head away.

"No marks. No marks, please," Knowing she'd never hear the end of it from her friends if she ended up with a hickey.

"Sorry," Sam mutters not very apologetically. He moves on from her neck, taking interest in her shoulders and the clothing still covering it. Or rather, interested in what's under it.

He slides the strap down and kisses the marks left behind.

'Damn, how do you get this thing off!' And off is certainly where he wanted it to be.

Five taps his head, clearly trying to get his attention. For a long second he doesn't even want to look up, afraid she's about to call the whole thing off.

'Please don't leave me,' He begs silently then turns his face up to meet her eyes.

Her lips work around the word once with no sound before she licks her lips and tries again. Sam can't help but track at the motion and think how unbelievably sexy he finds it.

"Bed?" She asks, never breaking from his slightly befuddled stare.

"Bed? Bed! Yes, the bed." Sam shift up to his knees and draws her up with him. "The bed," He says rather breathlessly and takes her hand, stealing a few kisses in between while getting to his feet. Pulling her up, he throws his arms around her and kisses her fully on the mouth, fiercely.

'Bed, she said bed. Oh my God, she wants to go to bed with me.' He forces himself into motion, grasping both her hands to replace the awkward shuffle of moving with her wrapped close. It was nice, but too slow god dammit.

In the small room, the only furnishing a king-sized bed and side table, he presses Five into the wall, wanting to deal with the whole 'sports bra' issue.

'Where's the clasp? I'm practically a fucking expert at getting bras off. Why can't I get this one?' He's frustrated, not realizing he lets out a soft growl against Five's lips.

Her small laugh is breathless and she steps him back with a hand on his chest. She glances away nervously, reaching for the clothing herself.

Sam puts a hand on her face and causes her eyes to meet his again. He wants, no needs, to see them.

With a small smile, she pulls the bra up over her head and lets out a shaky breath. Sam's own breath hitches.

'So, that's how to take that off. Noted,' He thinks madly then pushes it aside in favor of focusing the topless girl again the wall. Even if she had already suggested the bed, he couldn't waste this opportunity.

She's breathing harshly into his neck as his hands wonder warmly along her body.

When her hands start on his stomach then move down to the waist of his pants, he gasps a breath.

'Yes, yes, yes, yes.' He was so afraid Five would back down at any moment. Now he's almost certain she wants him as much as he wants her. If her shaky fingers working on undoing his button are any indication of her feelings. Though, maybe not. He wants her a lot.

'Why do buttons have to be so difficult?' Five laments, groaning when her fingers slip again without freeing the button.

Five grunts and tugs at the waistband as an indication to Sam what she wants.

"What is it, Five?" He asks with a little smirk into her skin. She doesn't answer so he continues. "Having trouble?"

'Oh, he did not,' Five thinks slightly bitterly, letting her competitive side get the better of her. With a sudden instance of total control, she undoes the button, zipper, and slides them down his hips and halfway down his legs.

He looks up at her with a bemused and slightly impressed expression. Her smile is tantalizing.

Sam is again taken by surprise when she clasps a hand on each of his cheeks and kisses him fiercely, pushing him backwards towards the bed.

"Hang on, hang on. I'm about to hit the ground," Sam holds her back by her shoulders, nearly tripping up on the jeans around his ankles. "Unless that's where you want me," He muses with a raised eyebrow.

She shakes her head slowly.

"No. Bed," She says firmly, watching him with careful eyes, waiting to see what he'll do next.

"Okay, that will work for me." He shakes the jeans away and kicks them aside.

He suddenly sweeps her up in his arms, expecting a squeak or protest but gets neither, Five just looks at him. Eyes holding his with an intensity he's not used to, studying and sort of curious. Like he's a puzzle she needs to figure out. He stands with her like that in a sort of daze, just staring straight back.

"Um..." She starts, eyes moving away and breaking the spell, at least a little. "Sam?" Her question accompanied by her fingers reaching out to stroke gently at his tattoo.

"Right, sorry. Got... distracted." His thumb moves up and down her arm absently.

Still he's standing in the middle of the room. Her face shows real confusion when almost a minute ticks by.

"Sorry, sorry. I just..." He trails off.

"Do you... not want to, Sam?" Five questions hesitantly.

"What? No, I mean yes. Of course I want to!" He's practically frantic with saying this. "Why..." So many questions swirl though his head that none of them come out. He does realize that is not really the 'professional' thing for him to be saying. It's all supposed to be about the client, not his desires.

Five just stares at him, waiting for him to either finish the thought or do something else. The stare puts him exactly in the same situation as before.

Seems Five is remarkably good at the waiting game, giving him enough time to sort his thoughts (a little) and then tilt his head to kiss her. Her arms circle his neck.

"Yes, I want to. I want to more than I've ever wanted anything else in my life," He finds it much easier to speak with his lips on hers and eyes closed. Somehow, when he thinks back, he's not completely sure if he said 'to' or 'you'. Both are accurate, but one sounds so much more intimate. So much more desperate.

Blindly, he finds his way to the bed and lays Five on it. Focusing on her stomach instead of her eyes makes it easier to think and easier to do his job correctly.

"Can you... Do you want me too..." Okay, maybe not that much easier. But Five picked up on the fact that his hands were lingering over the button on her slacks.

"Take 'em off, Sam," Five encouraged, a real sight to see sprawled out half-naked on the bed.

He only grunted in reply and undid the button. There were some things that not even Five's horrible, fascinating distracting ability could make him forget. Removing clothes was, apparently, one of those things.

"So I..." He begins before it tappers away.

'Foreplay. Is that one of the things I can't forget?'

"I can use my hands or my mouth to get you off. If you want." The way her face flushes should not be such as big a turn on as it is. But it nearly has him groaning.

"I-I..." Five stutters.

'Jesus Christ, that's forward. Never had a guy offer that before. Never had a guy do that before!' Five's mind practically grinds to a stop. 'How's it go with bases again? First base, kissing. Second base... Shit, I don't know. They don't even play baseball in England, do they? He wouldn't know. And he's still staring.'

"Um, I-I think I'm ready, you know without..."

'Oh God, he's smiling. No, it's a smirk. That sexy bast...' The thought trails away when he kisses the inside of her thigh.

"You sure? Cause I'd be more than happy to have these fantastic legs wrapped around my head for hours."

'Completely true. God, Five. I want to have you coming on my tongue all night.' That thought was probably a little too much for this shy woman, but it was true. Especially the 'fantastic legs' bit. Must be a sport star of some variety, this girl.

"Yeah, I'm... I'm sure," Five looks remarkably breathless, and looks remarkable breathless, Sam can't help but note. And as much as he wants to, he won't do anything without her permission. Not only was it his job, it was also the decent human thing to do.

"Alright, whatever you say." He finds his way onto the bed beside her, stretching out and trying to look relaxed. "So, what do you want to do?" The question is a little less suave then he'd like it, but Five still blushes and looks away from his gaze.

"We should..." She starts hesitantly. "Have sex." The pinched look on her face proves how difficult it was for her to say that.

And Sam can't help but smile, then laugh, burying his face in the blankets in attempts to smother the laughter.

"What?" Five asks, confused.

"Nothing. Uh, it's just... Yeah, I like that idea." He doesn't try to explain how pleasantly surprised he was to have those words come from her lips, or how there were a few more details to work out than just that. No, he just leans in to kiss her.

His body presses against hers needily, letting the rest of the world fall away except for this and her.

'Wow, he's a good kisser. Wonder what it would be like to take him up on that 'mouth' offer?' Five's face turns red at the mere thought. That was something that she did not want to experience for the first time with a stranger. But Jesus was he good with his mouth.

He slides down, trailing kisses along her body, feeling every reaction to him so intimately close.

'Wonder if she'd rethink the oral?' He would like to feel the reactions to that with his mouth. 'I've been told I'm really good at it.' But she said no, so he can live without. 'Okay, so sex it is. Wait, shit. Did she want a condom or not? That was on her paper. I know it was, but I...I can't remember.'

"Five, do you want me to use protection?" He glances up at her. Her fingers are curled in the blanket and her eyes are staring towards the ceiling in bliss. God, that's an amazing sight.

'This is why we figure out the details earlier. Nothing kills the mood like trying to arrange condoms and position in the middle of it. But it's necessary.'

"Five," He whines, kissing her stomach prolongedly and staring up at her. "Five," Is a little stronger.

"Huh?" Her eyes meet his sort of dreamily. He sets his chin on her and drums his fingers gently on her side, really liking that look on her face. Especially liking that he put it there.

"Do you want me to use a condom?" He questions carefully.

"Oh." Her head falls back so he doesn't see the red color her face. A hand runs roughly over her face, like she's thinking. "Yes, yes. Protection." It's barely coherent, but it is a reasonable answer.

"On it." He rolls over and reaches into the side table. There's all kinds of supplies inside, he can't help but throw a glance Five's way at the thought of having some fun with what's in the drawer. With her hands pressed into her eyes and hair wild all over the place, she looks like nothing he's ever seen. Like something he needs to have at any cost. In as many ways as he can.

But she's probably not into the toy scene and if oral sex made her uncomfortable, anything more extreme than that might make her run for the hills. And that would be so much of a shame.

He grabs a condom from the drawer and easily puts it on. Easier to focus when he's not so close to Five. This is a task better done at a distance.

When he rolls over again, he catches Five staring who subsequently looks away too quickly. She was totally checking him out naked.

'Wonder if she likes what she sees...'

"You know we can still stop at anytime. I mean that very seriously. All you have to do is say," He reminds slowly.

Five nods, still looking away.

Suddenly feeling very playful, Sam practically pounces on her, getting nose to nose and seeing the slight surprise come over her features (though the reaction isn't big at all).

"Come on, Five. I need to hear you," He's so close to her now. That will make it hard to keep control.

"Yes, I get it. Can you just..?" She trails off at the sensation of him dragging against her, all words fleeing.

'Words? What are words?'

"Can I just what?" He breathes heavily in her ear.

Her breath is just as harsh.

"God, I want you, Sam." Nothing has ever sounded sexier and he takes the opportunity to remove the last bit of clothing she wears.

He registers that he's put himself on top of her, and again they never made all the arrangements. He's got them in Missionary, his favorite position. Hasn't even thought to ask for hers.

"Where... Where do you want me?" He asks shakily, watching her look confused for a long second before she gets it.

"Oh, uh. This is good." Her arms wind around his neck again. "That's... That's what you meant, right?"

"Yeah, so you want me like this, just normal insertion sex?" He knew she'd be embarrassed by it, but it was something that needed to be clear.

"Yep, just normal. Normal, regular... sex. That's alright, right?" She questions.

"Only if that's what you want to do." It's quiet for a time and he can barely take it. "Is it? What you want to do, I mean?"

"Yes," The word is practically a hiss, through clenched teeth and with a body pressing up into his. And that's all the encouragement he needs.

A small sound comes from her throat when he presses into her. Not a moan, not even close to a cry. Just a sound. And Sam can't, for certain, tell if it's good or bad.

"All... Alright still, Five?"

It comes again, accompanied by her legs hooking around his thighs.

"Five..." He starts again, freezing.

The next sound is very clearly a frustrated groan, nearly a growl.

"I'm fine, Sam. Just... I need you to..." She makes the sound again, increasingly desperate. "Move!" She pulls on him, getting him deeper.

He grunts, both at the sensation and the strength she pushes him with.

'Strong legs. I bet this girl would drive me insane being on top.' Cowgirl is his second favorite after Missionary. An interesting difference in favorites between him being in control and letting the partner be in control, but both are simple with minimal muscle strain. And both are good, so good. But this, with Five, could possibly be the best he's ever had.

He works into a rhythm, figuring out that the sound is indeed a very good one. It means he's teasing enough to frustrate her. The sound is often followed by a small, whined 'Sam' or simply moving her body trying to force what she wants, usually getting it too.

She's not as vocal as most of the girls he's been with, so he has to learn to respond to the subtle touches on her hand and the not so subtle rocking of her body along with that sound. He's a fast learner, but gets the feeling he could get so much better with time. As it is though, she seems to be enjoying it. If the sounds and movement are any judgment of that. And in his experience, it is.

There's a hitch in her breath and her head falls back. He feels her entire form tighten around him, arms and legs included. Her throat is fully exposed to him and her breath comes out ragged while her body arches into his. Mouth open but no sound coming out.

He pauses, watching her fall apart under him. And, wow is it a sight to see. It's almost too much.

Her head tilts up and meets his eyes. She gasps for breath for a long while, looks like she's about to say something, then drops her head back again.

"Oh my God," She mutters.

He can't help but smile and press his mouth into her bared throat.

"Good?" He asks, sort of smugly.

"Oh my god," She repeats shakily. "Was that..? Did I just..?" She starts twice and fails both times.

"Mm-hm," Is hummed into her neck.

'Hopefully the first of several.' As a rule, he likes to give clients at least two orgasms. For Five, he never wants to stop.

"Oh my God," This is mostly whispered, one of her arms leaving his neck to cover her eyes.

Sam watches her for a while, thinking. She's clearly struggling to pull herself together, occasionally shuttering around him again, making it oh so difficult to keep still.

"Five? Have you never come before?" His brow furls at the thought. How could some ungrateful ass not give back to such an amazing girl?

"I... I thought I have. But it's never felt like that before." She gasps, eyes still buried under her forearm.

"Well, I'd have to say you've probably had crappy partners." He smiles for no one's benefit but his own since she's still not looking at him. Gently, he grabs the arm to move it up and peeks under to catch her eyes. "Want me to do it again?"

She makes that sound, lower in her throat this time. That's nice, but not what he needs to get started again.

"Yeah," She finally answers.

'That's the ticket.' He thinks before claiming her lips for a kiss and moving.

Her responsiveness to do him is not decreased at all, if anything, she's twice as passionate. Hands moving with more purpose, finding ways to drive him on even when the touch isn't particularly sexual. She really seems to like his tattoo, lingering touches on that, strokes her fingers through his hair, finding tiny spots along his skin to place pressure that make his kiss falter, then pick up even more powerful than before. Somehow, it's better than any touch anyone else has ever given to him. All of her little brushes better then any other.

As he hoped, he does get another orgasm out of her, the reaction almost the same as before (body pressing into his and shuttering for him with plenty of 'Oh my Gods' afterwards). And it's good, so good.

When she does become bold enough to timidly attempt a more provocative touch, just shifting her hands down to drag them on his ass, he gasps harshly into her mouth.

"Okay?" She whispers, maybe getting a little playful herself, maybe genuinely concerned or wondering. Sam can't really tell.

"You keep touching me like that and I'm going to come," He says against her lips.

"Maybe that's what I want." The whisper is lusty, and not as embarrassed about all this as she was before.

"If that's what you want, I'm not going to complain." He's close, but holding himself back. The self-restraint is built on years of practice.

"What can I do? To make you..." She trails off, showing the inexperience again.

'Certainly not one used to dirty talk.' At least, Sam thinks that's what she's trying to do.

"What can I do to make you come?" She says it quickly, like she needs to force it out.

This is sort of dangerous territory. Some women like to make him come, for sure. It's not unique. But it's never supposed to be about him. And he might be enjoying this a little too much.

"I'm doing just fine, don't you worry Five." The promise hides all the things he wishes he could say. Things about wanting her mouth, and wanting to tie her up to use everything in that drawer for his pleasure and hers, and just wanting her to himself for the rest of his life.

"Sam," She starts, the words falling away when he kisses her. Breaking the kiss, she's able to continue. "I want to do something for you."

He groans into her mouth.

'You are making it really hard for me to keep myself distanced like I'm supposed to.' He wishes her could tell her this, but actually fears the reaction.

"You could..." He falters, pressing his face into her neck to avoid those eyes. "You could touch yourself."

She stiffens slightly and he looks up to see her face burning red.

'Oh man, she must not like that I said that.'

"I've never... Never..." Her eyes are shifty and refusing to meet his.

"You haven't..?" Sam begins to question, but knows the answer from the previous response.

"Uh... No." She shakes her head slowly.

"I... I thought everyone... Jesus Five, you definitely don't have to if you don't want to." Now he's embarrassed, for the first time in a really long time. He's done a lot of things in bed, a lot, but for some reason asking someone as innocent(-ish, he is having sex with her) as Five to masturbate really seemed over a line. She's never done that before? Was that even possible?

He finds himself staring at her, her staring right back, like she's thinking or waiting. He's not sure which.

Slowly, her hand finds his, squeezing under, and interlocking her fingers with his. It takes him a second to realize why it feels familiar, then remembers that he'd done this earlier and guided her fingers with his.

'What is she up to?' He wonders, tearing eyes from their hands to her face.

Her face is still flushed, chest heaving, and eyes almost illuminately bright. She brings her lips close to his ear as if to tell a secret.

"Sh..." She almost loses her courage but then continues. "Show me?"

Five watches his eyes widen, head sort of cocking like a puppy and God someone as hot as Sam shouldn't be so cute at the same time. It wasn't fair.

"You... You're sure?" He questions.

"Er... Not exactly, but sure enough."

'Jesus, meeting those eyes was a mistake,' Sam half-heartedly laments while getting lost in them. 'Stop that right now. This is sex. Nothing more.' But the conviction does feel very convincing, not even in his head.

Taking a breath, he shifts his weight and moves their hands together, sliding them down between their bodies at a slow drag. Five is definitely nervous, judging by the rush of breath against his cheek.

"If you want me to stop..." He begins but Five cuts him of with her other hand pushing the back of his head until his lips contact hers.

"Sam, I'm going to kindly ask you to shut up." How did she say that while effectively muzzling his mouth with hers?

He chuckles sort of breathlessly.

"Okay, okay. But you know," He mutters between her kisses.

"Yeah," Five sighs in response.

Sam shifts his grip on her hand to hold her by the wrist. Locked fingers won't really work for this.

"Alright?" He asks, eyes closed, letting his other senses guide him.

"I... Yes." Her answer borders on reluctant.

"Do you want me to pull out?" He likes to think he can feel the warmth on her face with his cheek pressed to her, but isn't entirely sure that's possible.

"No, this is good... Unless you think..." She trails off, uncertain.

"I certainly don't have to."

'Don't necessarily want to either...' He thinks privately.

"This is good," She repeats breathlessly.

He moves her fingers down a little further, knowing she should be close to touching... Her hand jerks back slightly and he greatly loosens his grip to give her ample opportunity to pull away easily. But she doesn't. He hears and feels her swallow hard, her body tensed all over, nearly as bad as it had been when she first waked through the door.

"It's alright Five, take your time. Do whatever feels right." And with that he does release his grip in favor of tracing unfamiliar patterns on her stomach. He kisses her slowly while waiting, getting a small amount of response from her mouth. She's a bit too distracted for really good kissing.

He feels the skin of her arm slide against his, proving that she is moving. She stiffens even more, and after holding her breath for a long time, makes that sound in her throat. He smiles slightly into her, feeling the hesitant movement. But her muscles are still tensed up.

"Relax, Five. It's supposed to feel good," Sam mutters into her.

"It... it does feel good," She assures shakily. "You can move, if you want." She stumbles over this.

"Do you want me to?" He asks teasingly, with an underlying neediness he's not certain is well hidden.

She meets his eyes, eyes narrowed into a glare.

"I swear to God Sam Yao, if you don't move I'll-" The rest is cut off when he presses into her.

If he moves just right he can feel her hand brush against him, and that drives him so close to the edge it's almost impossible to back off... Maybe it is impossible because he's so busy chasing his release he doesn't notice the little sign Five gives before she comes. Next thing he know her head has fallen back and the feeling of her orgasm pushes him over his own.

She gasps out his name and it steals his breath more than anything. It wasn't just how she said it, it was that she said it. His name was on her lips in this most intimate moment.

He pants hard with his face buried in her throat. He can feel her swallowing breaths hurriedly. He's had to fake it for girls before, when he wasn't so into it. But he certainly didn't have to with Five. Most certainly.

Basically crashing onto his back beside her, he just breaths, waiting until he can get a hold of himself.

"Oh my God," Is the first thing he manages to say, not exactly eloquently.

"Yeah," Five responds breathlessly.

"That was..." He starts, not quiet able to finish.

"Uh-huh." Five might not be really hearing what he's saying, judging by that answer.

'Best I've ever had comes immediately to mind.' Sam is glad he can't get those thoughts into word form, even if she's not listening.

He about to pull close to Five. Cuddling isn't something he gets to do often, as much as he enjoys it. But he just doesn't want to let go of Five. But she's not there when he tries to grab her.

"I should be going," She stands and pulls on her underwear and slacks quickly, back turned. Probably embarrassed by being half-naked, despite everything.

"Well... You don't have to go just yet." He tries to keep the desperation from his voice. "Give me a few minutes and we can..."

"I should get back to my friends," She interrupts, practically scurrying across the room to pickup the sports bra from where it was abandoned and pulling it on. "It's been too long already."

Feeling sufficiently dressed (she'd been out in public places in a sports bra plenty of times) she turns back to Sam. Seeing him sprawled out on the bed they just... well, were in together is... it's not as unpleasant or embarrassing as she'd thought it would be. That's not to imply a complete lack of bashfulness. There's plenty of that.

"Well... um. Thanks."

'Okay, that sounded stupid,' Five would have rolled her eyes are herself if she wasn't so uncomfortable.

"You are more than welcome. See you another time?" He asks.

Five blinks, not even having considered the possibility of seeing Sam again.

"I... I don't think so." She wishes it didn't sound so harsh, or wishes she could pretend she didn't see the disappointment flash across his face. "This isn't really my thing," She tries by way of explaining.

"Don't say that, Five." Five isn't completely sure what part of the previous statement he doesn't want said. It couldn't be the first thing. What would it matter to this guy if she never came back? It's not like other people didn't come in all the time, as far as she could tell. He's not exactly starving for... attention? Affection? Okay, call a spade and spade. Sam would be having plenty of sex with plenty of people. Why would he care?

"Goodbye, Sam," She says with a gentle sort of smile and turns away and leaves the bedroom in a few strides. Collecting her blouse, she almost leaves and forgets that she's supposed to leave money. Now that's a weird feeling, but Sara gave her the money, so it's more like she's paying for the night. Maid-of-honor had such honors. And Five wasn't about to keep it.

Closing the door behind her, Five is almost certain she will never see Sam Yao again. And the feeling in her chest in most certainly not disappointment.

******

It really was too much to hope that her friends wouldn't be out in the lobby yet. Five's not entirely sure how long she was with Sam, but it felt pretty long.

Sara, Jody, Maggie, and Eugene have found a seat together and are chatting like they haven't just been in separate rooms with strangers. But the state of hair and clothing makes suggestions about their experiences. All except Sara, who is immaculate like she always is, even after hard runs that leave Five a mess. She can only imagine how she looks right now. Should have stopped to check a mirror if she looked decent. A few buttons might not be done right on her blouse.

"There's Five!" Jody calls, still drunk, maybe more so it seems.

"I was beginning to think you'd made a run for it," Maggie says with a grin. "Looked like you were about to since we got here."

Five crosses her arms defiantly.

"No, I did not run. Thank you."

"Wait, how do we know Five actually had any playtime? How do we know you didn't just find a place to nap for a couple hours then came back here?" 

'If you didn't have a prosthetic leg Eugene, I would kick you in the shin just to watch you jump around. I still might,' She thinks with narrowing eyes. The thought can almost be read off her expression.

"Oh, Five definitely had some fun tonight," Sara cut in. And Five would kick her, if she thought she stood a chance in a fight. "Judging by that hickey."

"What?!?" Five's hand immediately flies to the place where Sam got a little... enthusiastic.

"Gotcha, Five. I didn't say where it was. You tipped your hand. She did do them." This releases a few delighted hoots and whistles, and Eugene begins a slow clap.

'Oh, his shins should really beware,' Five thinks bitterly.

"I want to know all the details! How was it, what did you do, did you..?" Jody says excitedly and very drunkenly.

"Where's Maxine?" Five cuts her off with a question of her own. It's easy enough when Jody's tongue isn't well coordinated with too many drinks.

"Hasn't come back out yet. I'm starting to worry," Maggie is gracious enough to drop the appealing topic of Five's night to answer the question.

"Bet she's just enjoying one of her last few nights as an eligible bachelorette," Eugene has the same teasing tone he uses on her that makes Five want to defend Maxine even in her absence.

"You don't really think Maxi would do... that to Lou, do you?" Five asks, raising an eyebrow.

"And what do you think Lou's doing with her friends, hm?" Eugene grins and winks.

Five groans and covers her face with her hands.

"I, frankly, did not want to think about it," She mutters while roughly rubbing her eyes. "I'm going to get some air. I'll be outside." She almost trots out from old habit but manages a calm walk instead. Mostly calm. Okay, it's actually pretty close to a trot, but who cares?

Outside the wind is blowing rather harshly but it feels nice, wiping her hair around and helping to cool her off and let her think. The club isn't precisely in a bad part of town, she's been in this area for restaurants before as a matter of fact. Probably will never come back to any of them after...

It's not like she regrets sleeping with Sam. God, it had probably been one of the best nights of her life. But Sam was a stranger, and Five usually did not have sex with strangers. Thinking back, she can barely figure out why it happened. When did she decide 'Yes, I'll sleep with this guy'? Right after seeing him, lounging lazily on the couch and watching his eyes spark with interest? Hearing his sweetly seductive voice? Whenever it was, it had been pretty soon after meeting him. She'd never... clicked? Bonded? Never so quickly fallen for...

Oh dear God, she's fallen for Sam somewhere in there. Oh God...

Jody receives a text from Five that she has to pass to Sara to read.

"Seems Five has decided to call it a night and walk home," She proclaims to the group, deciding to keep Jody's phone so she doesn't lose it like the last one. The fact that she's doesn't even seem to notice the absence further cements the necessity.

"Walk home? We've got to be ten miles from the apartment," Jody wonders loudly.

"If I know Five, she's certainly not walking home," Sara says, erring on ominous.

The rest wonder, but don't get any more information from Sara. But no one knows Five better than Sara. Five didn't walk home. No, despite improper footwear and clothing, she ran.

*******

Five's working through a novel when she hears Jody finally stumble in. It's well past three o'clock. She grins slightly at the groan of frustration when she tries to door to Five's room and can't open it.

'She's going to be feeling tonight in the morning.' Five bookmarks the page, knowing there is about to be a drunken discussion, most likely about items lost through the night.

"Five, unlock the door." There's a sound like Jody thumping her head against wood.

"Not locked. Try the handle," Five calls, smiling when the handle goes down and there's a small 'oh' from the other side.

Jody shuffles in and collapses on the bed next to Five without permission.

"I drank too much," Is muffled by the blankets she's shoved her face into.

"Yep," Five responds.

"And I think I lost my phone." That one she barely understood.

"Sara's got it. Been texting me updates from the rest of your very exciting night."

Of course it got tamer after Five made a break for it. That's just how it goes.

"We got ice cream," Jody mumbles, already half-asleep.

"Saw that." The text came as a selfie of all of them mushed together with ice cream cones and the caption as, 'Wish you were here'. Jody had a good amount of dessert on her nose. "You guys couldn't have done ice cream before the sex club?"

But seems Jody's already fallen asleep. Five rolls her eyes but isn't too put off. It's safer if she keeps an eye on drunk Jody. Not only for medical reason, but also because she's gotten into some crazy shenanigans while extremely drunk and incredibly unsupervised. Though to be fair, that's usually when she's drinking with Simon.

Five snaps a picture of the snoozing Jody and texts it to her phone with a 'Safe and sound' just so Sara knows. They could still be tearing up the town, or decided to raid a fast food restaurant. The really exciting stuff only ever seems to happen when Five is around. The nice, ordinary things happened when Five was home or busy. Sometimes Five got the feeling people invited her along just to see what exciting thing would occur in her presence. Because something always happened, even if it had started out as a simple trip to the grocery store.

With a sigh, Five tosses the blankets over Jody and climbs out of her bed. Stretching, she goes to the kitchen to gather a water bottle and some pain meds for whenever Jody's once again conscious enough to feel the hangover. After setting that on the nightstand in easy reach, Five settles back into bed for the night.

******

Despite all the craziness of the Bachelorette party, the thinking about Sam and then trying really hard not to think about Sam, and dodging friends questions about the night; Five does make it through the rest of the winter break with sanity (mostly) intact. With classes starting again and track getting back into full swing, she's glad for the distraction. It with help her keep her mind off... certain people. A good run can only go so far, at least, that's what experience is now showing. It always used to be enough.

Yep, getting back into school will certain do her good. Help her get on with her life and stop thinking about...

'Dammit. Stop think about Sam Yao and those freaking eyes and his amazing... Yeah, stop thinking about all that immediately.'

After an early morning run before the sun's even out, Five is heading to class and feeling for the first time that things might be normal and none exciting for once. There's only so much excitement one person wants to put up with.

The lecture hall isn't the largest on campus. The class will be relatively small considering it's for high-level engineering students (which Five is not, but she enjoys a good challenge). Early and already set up to take notes from the infamous lecturer, Five definitely has a good feeling about this.

She's head down in the first half page of notes (the Professor certainly didn't waste time before plowing right into chapter one) when someone pushes the door open with panting breath.

'Tardiness? I really have a feeling the prof is not going to like that.' Five doesn't bother to look up at the unfortunate interloper at first.

"I expect you have a reason for being tardy to my class then. And considering the fact you were so eager to make an interruption, why don't you tell the whole class."

'Tough luck, buddy. You'll be on his list now,' Five thinks with the barest amount of sympathy. It was, after all, a personal problem.

"Sorry, I uh... I over slept." Five surprised the pencil doesn't go through the entire notebook.

'It can't be. Not even I could make something so impossible happen.' But the voice is unmistakable. She still doesn't look up, mostly just frozen like a deer in headlights.

"Over slept? Well, isn't that the most marvelous excuse? Because it is the first day, I will allow you a one time reprieve. If you feel so inclined to do so again, do not bother coming back to my class."

'Please make him leave and not come back,' Five begs the professor, with a reddening face.

"Yes sir," The familiar voice murmurs just loud enough to hear, or maybe Five's just hyper aware of it.

The tardy individual makes his way down under the stare of the professor and most of the class, except of course for Five who is dutifully staring at her notebook.

'Don't you dare sit in the seat next to me. The world couldn't be that unfair.'

It's a small miracle that he doesn't, but he's almost directly across from her. Luckily, his heads dropped low like a chastised kid. Five is staring at him, she quickly realizes, can't help it. 

Sam is just as good looking as she remembers, in a way that completely does not fit in with the others in this classroom. A scruffy, rebellious teenager type of attractive, not polished profession attractive. It really makes him stand out in this crowd.

Quietly unloading a ragged scrap of paper from his backpack and a pen, he just happened to look up, glanced down at the paper, then double taked. His eyes meet Five's staring ones widening in surprise. A small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth and Five immediately returns her focus to the notebook mindlessly scribbling notes that may or may not be complete gibberish by the end of the class. She just needs to keep focused on something, trying to drain the blood from her face.

This year just got so much more uncomfortable.

'Someone just kill me now.'


	2. Don't Come a-Knocking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You know what? Screw you, Sam Yao." Five turns and starts down the track at a jog.  
> "You already did that, Five!" Sam calls after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the Zombies, Run! characters are students or employees at Abel university. The runners are on the track team. And Sam and Five's relationship is off to a rocky start. No smut in this one. I just love Sam Yao so much and thinking of him as a struggling engineering student breaks my heart. So I decided to do something about it. Imagine how different things would be if any of the Z!R characters met pre-apocalypse? Of course no one can just be happy and together even if there are no zombies. I'm hoping to get there though.

As soon as lecture was over, Five practically dashed out of the hall, needing to be anywhere else. And really needing to run.

'Just need to clear my head. Think this over. It's not a total catastrophe. People hang out with people they've slept with all the time, right?' So why did it feel like she couldn't stand being in the same room as Sam Yao? No matter how big the room is?

She makes her way to the track, changing clothes in the locker room from the set in her backpack.

'That's my Five," Sara would often say. 'Always prepared.'

'Well, one never knows when they might need to run. Like right now, when the track is empty and the guy you paid to have sex with and never thought you'd see again suddenly pops back into one's life.'

Jesus, did this sort of thing ever happen to anyone else or was it just patented 'Five luck'?

She's hitting the track hard, focusing intently on the path ahead and the feeling of wind blowing through the open-air track. She could almost completely distract her mind from... Someone who will not be thought about, and think instead about class. English is in a few hours, she'll want to shower and change before that. Most of the engineering lecture is a blur, but when zoned out like this, she can recall the lesson better and will be able to compare the memory to the haphazard notes in the scribbled notebook. She couldn't afford to be distracted like that again. This professor was not going to have an easy class. It was going to take work, but Five was up for the challenge.

"Wow. No wonder you've got such nice legs." The words, and even more so, the voice, breaks her concentration. Unfortunately, it's while she's about to begin rounding the curve. She instead plows headlong into a stack of hurdles.

"Crap!" Sam vaults the barrier in front of the stands and races towards while she untangles herself from the, now, knocked over pile of wooden structures. "Are you okay?" His attempts to find a way though the mess prove impossible, but Five is close to having the situation worked out.

She crawls her way out and glances up. Very unfortunately (for the both of them) Five ends up inches from his crouch.

Turning red, she panics and punches him in the gut and scoots back into the hurdles. Sam doubles over, groaning.

"Ow."

Five is quick to her feet. Feeling a little bad for punching him, but not bad enough to apologize. She did crash because of him. There would be some bruises from that.

"What are you doing here?" She questions harshly.

"I go to school here." He's a bit more breathless than he feels he should be. Five's got a pretty good swing.

"I mean..." She trails off, hand moving up, pausing, then roughly running over her hair. "The track. Did you follow me out here?"

"Um... yes I did." He sounds sort of sheepish, standing up straighter and shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Why?" She questions exaggeratedly.

"Well, I kinda wanted to talk to you and you ran out of the class so fast..." Sam's never seen anyone moves so quickly with such a big backpack.

'Are you avoiding me, Five?' His eyes slowly drift to the side of the track to avoid her eyes. He's has been this nervous talking to a girl since Primary school. And why? He's already been with Five.

"About?"

"What?" Sam's eyes snap up.

"What did you want to talk about?" She questions with a raised brow.

"Oh, um..." He realizes he doesn't have an answer to that. He just wanted to talk to her. See her. After weeks of thinking about her, and thinking he'd never see her again... "I never got to thank you properly for such a remarkable night." Of course he doesn't say what he wants to. Nothing about how much he missed her, couldn't stop thinking about everything about her, wanting to she her shy little smile again.

Her face goes red, and it's almost satisfying, if it didn't make Sam feel so bad.

'What is a proper thank you?' Five almost asks, before running over the possibilities in her head and deciding she doesn't want to hear any of Sam answers.

"Well..." She starts, caught off-guard and a little unbalanced. "Listen Sam. What happened between us, a one-time thing. Okay. It was nice; don't get me wrong. But it's not going to happen again. So whatever it is you're thinking you're going to get out of this, just... don't bother."

It's Sam's turn to be surprised. It was a remarkably eloquent argument from the obviously flustered Five. He forces the surprise away and gives a smug sort of grin.

"You thought it was nice?" He questions haughtily.

Her face falls, leaving the open, almost friendliness, moving to shock, then settling on anger.

"How about I just make this easy on you? I want you to leave me alone." She steps closer, staring him down intensely. As stupid and inappropriate as it is, it's an incredible turn on.

"Come on now, Five. That's not true. If I know you, you do want me around. You want me in a lot of ways." Her fists clench at her sides angrily, face getting even redder.

"You don't know me. You don't know a thing about me." Her teeth are clenched as she says this.

"Really?" He asks with a quirked eyebrow. "I do know I'm the first guy to get you to come good and hard like that." Just when she thought her face couldn't get any warmer, Sam had to say that. To remind her of that... "Three times I might add." She fights the urge to scrub at her hot cheeks in hopes of cooling them. "Do you want me to do that again?" He questions with a cocked head.

"That... is not the same as knowing me."

"True enough." He steps closer. She doesn't back down. "I would really like to get to know you better. Maybe also practice the things I know already." And now she really looks about to hit him. Sam starts to think he's in a little over his head here. But she finally does back down.

"You know what? Screw you, Sam Yao." She turns and starts down the track at a jog.

"You already did that, Five!" Sam calls after.

Five's pace picks up, practically a sprint. She doesn't even take the turn, just runs off the track and out the fence. And she doesn't stop running until her face stops burning. Which takes longer than she'd like to admit.

******

Sam rubs at the back of his head, standing alone on the track with a pile of tangled hurdles.

'I could have handled that better.' He sighs, frustrated. 'I might have just fucked up something that could have been the best thing that ever happened to me.' Sex he can do. Really well, too. But whatever this is with Five, it's in a completely different league. And he has not idea what he's doing.

What had he been thinking anyways? Five obviously didn't want to see him, not by the way she left the classroom, or actually crashed when hearing his voice. But there was something about Five. He hadn't been able to get her out of his head, not even when with other women. And seeing her again after being sure he wouldn't... Well, he'd been stupid and blown his chance. Not like he had a chance in the first place. Why would Five have any interest in a guy like him?

******

Jody is in the apartment when Five arrives, surprised by the appearance of her roommate. Five is usually on such a reliable schedule you could set a clock by her. But when she walks in looking flustered and like she just ran twelve miles, it's clear something out of the ordinary has happened.

"Five? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing, fine. Just forgot something and figured I'd shower here after my run and pick it up," Five mumbles while stalking past Jody on the couch and heading to her room.

Now, Five forgetting something is almost unheard of. But Jody knows Five well enough to know when she'll be stubbornly tight-lipped about something. Sara knows the ways to get her talking, but Jody is always at a loss about how she does it.

Five is quick with the shower and heads back out the door in no time with a different backpack and a notebook (She left her backpack in a locker at the track, she'd have to get it later). She still has to get to class, despite really not wanting to show her face in public for at least twenty-four hours, maybe more. Having Sam show up brought up all sorts of memories she'd been trying not to think about (but failing miserably).

Jody looks up and smiles as Five begins to leave. Five does smile back distractedly and heads out to catch the bus. She'd normally walk to class but a risk of being late she takes the bus. Sitting at the window, she's staring out pensively, and feeling stupid about it. Someone plops down in the seat beside her and leans so close that she's able to guess who it is.

"Hello Simon." Her eyes stare out the window.

"Well, hello there, Five." He slings a friendly arm over her shoulder. "You seem down."

"Nah, just thinking," She answers casually.

"I won't ask you about it, cause I know you won't tell me. But I know something to make you feel better..."

She turns her head with a questioning look.

"Late night race. You and me. Scoobs park. Tonight."

"A chance to kick your ass? I'll be there."

He grins at her.

"That's the spirit." He tightens his grip around her neck and pulls her down to rubs his knuckles into her head.

"Get off of me, you ass!" She struggles against him and pulls at his arm to get free.

"You have a very strange obsession with my ass, Five. I hope you like the view, cause it's the thing you'll be seeing tonight." He still doesn't let go. "At the race too."

Five pulls a hand back and takes a swing at his ribs, forcing a grunt and he finally relents his hold.

"Alright, alright. Save the wrestling for later. I get it." Simon grins broadly with a ridiculously suggestive expression.

"Won't be any wrestling. You won't be able to catch me, not even see me."

"Confident, are we? Care to make a friendly wager?"

"Nope," She answers, crossing her arms.

"Come on, you always win. Why not give it a chance. You'll win anyways so what's the harm."

"Because I'm not letting you get the chance to get the upper hand on me. Don't offer that to anyone." He grins at her, never actually stops. Ever, in general.

"I know Sara tends to get the upper hand. She knows what you're going to do before you can even think about it."

Five smirks to herself.

"Sara's different," She answered briefly. No one in the world knew her like Sara. Sometimes it was aggravating. Used to always be so when Five used to think of Sara as only a rival. Now they worked together as a team better than any pair.

"Yeah, yeah. You've got some sort of 'special connection'." Simon does finger quotes with a dramatic flare worthy of the stage. "Why can't we be like that, Five?" He whines with a pouting lip.

"Because you're about as observant as a post and I say little with words."

"Ah, so it's about body language with you! Well, I can do that. Just need to watch you carefully. I bet I could get good enough to deduce who you slept with during Maxine's bachelorette party, Holmes-style."

Five goes rigid at the words, face catching fire. Simon's flirting, she could handle. Was well used to that. But people actually having insight into her recent sexual history? That was still new and very uncomfortable.

"How did you hear about that?" Her voice, gladly, does falter.

"Just because I was working, doesn't mean I didn't hear about it." He looks smug.

"Who told you?" Five questions, with a sort of dangerous tone.

"Nope, I will not reveal my source. That's not what I'm about."

Five hums angrily, wondering if starting a fight on the bus would be hugely frowned upon. It is Simon, after all. Half the people on this bus probably have reasons to not stop her.

But she has a class to get to. And Simon would know this and probably try to draw a fight out. That seems like something he'd do.

"That's really none of your business, Simon," She finally decides to say.

"Of course not. Doesn't mean I don't plan on sticking my nose in it anyway."

Five rolls her eyes, turning away.

"You're not going to get anything from me," She says, seeing that the stop is arriving soon.

"Aw, come on Five. I'd like to get something out from you. Maybe something like what your new friend from the Shack got."

Five contemplates whether she has time to punch him in the face just as the door opens and Simon stands to leave.

"See you tonight, Five!" He calls behind him and dashes off the bus.

Five sighs, shaking her head with a strange fondness for the man. Sure, she still wanted to hit him when she saw him again, but it was Simon. That's how he was.

Off the bus, Five heads to class. Simon is nowhere to be seen, was probably smart to race off before Five could follow. While walking, Five tries not to think about how soon she'd have to be in the same room as Sam again. That night with him... He'd been so sweet, attentive, and just... amazing. Well, after this morning, obviously all that was just an act. He figured out what she wanted in a guy and played that for her, really well too. She's paid him, and that was the end of the relationship. It should be the end of it. And yet now, he just had to be in her life. And she couldn't stop thinking about them... being together.

Shaking her head, she trots up the stairs and mindlessly finds a spot in the lecture hall. Focusing on class should make it easier to ignore the fact that her life is crazy. And ignore the fact that, despite today, she still cares about Sam...

******

It's well past dark when Five arrive in the park to wait for Simon. It's a common thing that runners meet in the park to race. It was the best way to settle arguments among the team, the only way to settle the never ending question 'Who's the fastest?'. Thought it was always a shifting balance, and challenges were always being issued. This meant every runner needed to stay at the top of their game, no matter what. Five is warming up when she hears the slow, lazy footsteps coming up to the bench.

The street lamp allows Simon for a very dramatic entrance, stepping into the light with his hands shoved into his pockets and a grin visible before the rest of his face. It would have been more striking if the running shirt wasn't blinding neon green that can be seen for miles.

"Hello Five. Didn't keep you waiting, did I?" He asks.

"I feel like I'm always waiting for you." She shrugs casually.

He frowns dramatically, batting his eyes.

"Come on, Five. I've got you this time. And I'll be waiting for you on the other side this time."

"Sure." She watches Simon shake off. She realizes he's already loose and limber. He had a jog before this; he was warmed up.

"Just you watch Five. What can I get you for when you finally get there? Water, a snack, sports bra?"

"Thirty minutes of blessed silence while I'm waiting for you," She mumbles.

"That hurts, Five. Cuts me deep." He staggers with a hand over his chest dramatically.

"Let's just go." She crouches like she's on a running block.

"Eager, are we?" He lines up next to her, wiggling his brows.

"On your mark," She starts.

"Get set," Simon continues.

Five's breath steadies, focus taking over. Nothing else matters beyond the ground under her feet.

"Go!" Simon is the one to finish it, aware that Five will wait to hear it in order to run. Five doesn't ever say it.

Both of them take off like a shot, starting is something all the runners have down pat. But there's a reason when they challenge each other to races, they don't use the track. On the track it's all about speed, which is important, of course. But out here meant freedom. It tested the skills, cleverness, and courage of runners. Scoobs was forested, trails crisscrossing haphazardly through the trees. The paths were mostly made by wondering people looking for places to get high or already high and wondering. It's difficult enough navigating it in daylight. At night it's downright treacherous. Broken ankles, even legs, weren't out of the question. That didn't stop the runners from racing it.

Simon flashed a white smile towards Five in the dark and veered off just before the trees became denser. Five barely spared him a glance before leaping through the trees and landing on the other side on a worn dirt path. It took a sharp left turn and skirted the banks of a dry creek. By day light, or with a particularly bright moon, the trash-filled crevasse wasn't exactly a pretty sight. But it didn't have to be pretty, Five barely gave it a thought before jumping over it and continuing running at break neck speed.

Now, tradition dictated that runners were not allowed to train in the park so no one knew the paths before hand. More of a challenge that way. But if a runner had even a halfway decent sense of direction, they'd know at least some of the landscape. Five's directional sense is superb. Between that and being almost constantly challenged to races out here, she's got a map in her head. Feet pounding the dirt as she starts up the incline, almost too subtle to really notice expect for the burning it brings to the calves, and skids to a stop at the very top of the hill.

She's almost certain none of the other runners know about this place. Even if they do, stopping there would be majorly counterintuitive. The point of a race is to run. But Five has found that you've got to think too. Strategize. Eyes darting around, she searches for moment. The neon green doesn't hurt in spotting the runner.

Simon is racing along an overgrown trail, jumping and dodging around foliage. Foremost, Five is checking to see that he's okay. It's just in her nature. But knowing he's still running strong only encourages her to beat him. Five tracks the path he's following, seeing that it comes to an abrupt stop not to far ahead. Meaning he would either be plowing through the underbrush or backtracking for a new trail. Knowing Simon, he'd probably plow right through. It would slow him down, but not by much.

Five then turns her attention to her own path. The path ran back down hill, split in two and went off in opposite directions. One seemed to be going in the right direction for a while, but then tampered off. The other was going completely wrong and had no foreseeable way to get back on track. So Five focuses on the one going the right direction. If an improvised route is taken, cutting through the trees, she could meet up with a path that headed in the right direction and let out of the trees very close to the end point. Problem being, there was a ravine between the two paths.

But Simon, predictably, was just starting off the trail and through the woods. It slowed him down, but not by a lot. Five was going to have to move.

Pounding down the hill, Five followed the path at high speed, wanting to preemptively make up for the time lost when going off the trail. Nothing else bothered her mind when running like this. On the track, at an easy jog, or even a faster run, thoughts still swum through her head constantly. But out here, simultaneous needing to know the path to take as well as focusing on what was directly in front, the mind could drain to nothing more than jumping, dodging, and carefully placed feet. It was therapeutic, like going into a trance. Five wasn't sure if it was like for the other runners, but felt that running was a different experience for every one of them. Some runners ran because they wanted to, and some ran because they had to.  
The trail falls away and Five keeps going, maintaining a straight path by picking landmarks straight ahead to chase down, then another. It's easy to get lost or off track out here. It wasn't endless, keep going and you'd eventually get out of the woods and finding the road from there was easy. But when racing, that's not something you want to do. Got to know where you're going to win.

When Five finally comes on the ravine, it's a split second realization that she miss calculated the depth and the distance of the thing. But it was too late to turn back.

The dirt crumbled on the edge after she leapt off, the landing is all wrong. She didn't get the distance she needed to cross completely, instead landing on the bank and sliding a few feet in the dirt before getting a hand and toe hold. Scrambling up, she's still slipping with the shifting earth, but gaining more distance than she's losing. A sound has her looking up, just in time for reflex to have her lurching off to the side to avoid the large rock as it rolls down the hill right where she was. Watching after it, she shakes off the surprise and continues climbing up, keeping a careful eye up ahead in case there's any other surprises.  
She pulls herself up to solid ground and wastes no time taking off again. She noted the pine tree that would lead her to the trail she'd want to be on, making it easy to find even if she had gotten off track. But she hadn't. Finding the path, she sprints down it. The delay with the ravine meant she was going to have to book it to beat Simon. She still thought she could though. Simon's distance running was good. He could probably run longer and harder than most (an innuendo and skill he constantly was emphasizing). That's why he was good on the track, probably their best 3000 meter runner. But he didn't excelling at forest races. Or it was that Five just happened to be especially good at it. Only one person ever beat Five. Take a guess as to who.

Five breaks out of the tree line, first taking a look around to see if Simon is ahead or somewhere close by. So far, no sign of him. But there was still a ways to the finishing spot. Moving quickly over the open space, Five keeps her ears open for an approach from behind her.

A crashing sound and a curse has her grinning like a fool. She's got several meters on Simon. He's not likely to make up the distance, but Five still pushes to keep ahead. Up in the distance, the bench comes into view. Lit by a street lamp, the finish line for countless races between the runners, has no grass around it from the feet pounding it down from several angles and cooling down after a hard run.

Simon's footsteps are hard on Five's heels, but she makes it to the bench with a couple paces to spare. She waits for him to catch up while shaking off and hoping from foot to foot in attempts to cool down.  
Simon barely slows as he hops up on the bench, steps up on the back, balances there for a moment before stepping back down a step.

"I did give you a pretty good race, didn't I?" He says with a broad grin, stretching his leg behind him. He's got a fair amount of foliage caught in his hair and on his clothing.

Five hums and shrugs non-committedly.

"You wouldn't believe what I went through out there. I don't want to brag or anything, but I was pretty damn brave and smart out there."

"Right," Five doesn't bother to tell him to go on or to not talk. He'll brag anyways.

"Come on, Five. Let's get something to eat and I'll regale you with tales of my fortitude and strength." He jumps down and flings an arm around her shoulders.

And Five smiles. Simon does have a way of making her feel better, in his own strange way.

She plucks a stick from his hair.

"You're buying."

******

Time goes by and the class does get a little easier to go through. It's still a difficult class, of course, but Sam picks a different place to sit in the lecture hall so Five doesn't get stuck staring at him. For a while she can't look at him without blush coloring her cheeks. Soon enough though, with no further uncomfortable interactions, she can glance at him even offer a small, friendly smile without going red in the face. It looked like he was going to be able to be just another person in her class.

It's impossible not to focus on the class, what with the difficulty level. When the test comes up, Five knew it was going to be a struggle to get a decent grade. An A was going to be a real endeavor.

Taking the test was about as stressful as she imagined, made worse by the anxiety of students fueled by caffeine and the hysteria of being awake all night. She's pretty sure the screaming from the dorms this morning and the person passed out in the grass were both in this class and succumbing to stress.

But she had prepared. Had spent the last three weekends locked in a study room at the library only leaving to train and shower, replenishing food if she needed. Notes had piled up on the desk and scrap paper stacked up. She slept in there too, not wanting to waste the precious study time on the trip out or distraction in the apartment.

The test was challenging, but Five was able to finish and check over her answers before time was up with a decent amount of confidence.

While walking out, she spares a glance at Sam's spot in the lecture hall. She pauses in her assent, just for a beat, before continuing.

He had his head in his hands, his hair fisted in a way that looked painful. She couldn't see his face, but couldn't imagine he looked happy. She made it outside, took a look backwards, then continued on her way, headed for the track. Her head hurt and she hoped getting the blood flowing would help. And maybe get a certain someone out of her head.

******

A few days later the results of the test were up and Five was pretty happy with the results. It wasn't a perfect score, but it would get her the grade she wanted in the end, if she kept up the work. Which she certainly intended to.

After class, training on the track as usual (actually just stretching out and about to leave) a familiar voice interrupts her thoughts on what to make for lunch.

"I'm approaching cautiously, speaking with a soft voice so you know I am here and you are not startled enough to hit me again."

Five spins around and faces Sam, crossing her arms and keeping her face careful blank.

"What do you want, Sam?" She questions shortly.

He puts his hands down from where he had them out in front of him, patting them at his sides, then shifting them into his pockets.

"Um..." He starts, falling off and then just staring at her.

'Jesus. What was I thinking, coming out here?' He thinks, realizing it's too late to turn back now.

Five cocks an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to continue.

"I came out here to ask you something," He's dodging the question now, afraid to ask.

Again, Five just stares at him, putting him in a position that makes it very difficult to put thoughts into words.

"I need your help," He finally blurts.

Her eyebrows go up I surprise and Sam starts thinking of better ways he could have said that.

"Is that some sort of... Innuendo or..?" Sam flinches at her immediate assumption.

'Suppose that's what she thinks of me,' He worries shaking his head at his own stupidity.

"Um... You know, never mind Five." He turns to leave.

"Sam," She calls after him and he freezes. He turns back. "What do you need help with?"

"You did well on Van Ark's test didn't you?"

'Of course you did. You actually seem to know what you're doing with your life. Me..?' He lets out a sigh.

She shrugs modestly.

"I... didn't." That was an understatement.

"And... You want my help in the class?"

"Yes. I... I can't fail this class. If I do, I'll be set back a whole year and my dad would be..."

'Is there even a word for how mad he would be?' He wonders.

Five exhales and grabs her ankle to stretch it to her lower back.

"Why me?" She questions.

'Don't think about how flexible she is. Don't think about... Shit.'

"Well..." He clears his throat and shifts his feet. "I know you." Her eyes narrow and Sam realizes his mistake and tries to backtrack. "I mean not know... Know like... I..."

He's eyes drop to the ground and doesn't notice how Five's eyes soften.

"Alright," She states, dropping her leg and starting towards her backpack on the side of the track.

"You... What?" He stumbles a step and catches up to her.

"Let's get to work." Her eyes slide towards him with a deadly serious expression.

'She's definitely not kidding,' He notes.

"Right now?" He asks.

"Yep. Unless you are already prepared for tomorrow's quiz..."

The look on his face offers an answer.

"What I thought..." She mutters. "If we get started now, we might be able to swing you a C. Give it a enough time, and... Well we'll see about the test. Bet we can be you a B if you really buckle down."

"Do... Do you really think so? I've... I've never gotten a B in any of my engineering classes."

"That depends on you, Sam. But... I'll do my best to help you." She smiles lightly at him.

"Oh my God. Thank you, Five. I don't know how to possibly thank you enough." He almost grabs her and kisses her before remembering himself.

"Don't thank me just yet. We'll have to see how it goes."

"Just you saying you'll help me is enough. No one else has..."

"Don't get too excited yet, Yao."

"Okay, alright. Whatever you say."

Five smiles at him.

"To the library then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So throwing in some Simon Lauchlan will be interesting. I'm hoping to cameo all the characters at least once. I'm on a break and seriously should be writing my novel, but here I am... again. At least I'm writing.


	3. Seize the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bed," She says firmly, pointing towards the door of the library. Sam's eyes widen and Five turns red when she realizes what she said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Titles are hard. And I haven't been able to write much lately due to a summer class. But I'm back. This may be shorter than the other chapters, but it seems like a decent stopping point.

"I still don't..."

"Don't you dare say you don't get it again. Tell me what you don't get. That's why I'm here." Five watches him as he rubs his head roughly.

"What the hell is that weird 'S' thing you keep drawing?!?" Sam demands, pointing at it.

"Okay, that I can work with. That's an integral sign. It's the opposite of a derivative."

Sam blinks at her, looking frustrated.

"Alright, it's not an easy topic to understand. It took me a while get it too. Let me start here. So these two numbers are telling you where on the graph you are measuring between." Before he can look confused for too long, Five continues. "The way I think about is like a track."

Sam glances up at her, a slight smile quirking.

"It works," She answers defensively.

"Let me hear it." Sam is watching her intently now.

"Okay, so when I run on the track, I typically start on the South end, that's zero." She draws an oval on a piece of scrap paper and mark part of it with the pencil.

Sam leans in closer, pressing slightly into Five's arm and almost distracting her. She clears her throat and continues.

"But obviously I could start from any point and stop anywhere as well. So zero to four," She marks a four on the circle. "Is a distance of four. But if I start at four and stop at eight, that distance is also four."

Five scoots over away from him, feeling her face warming.

"At least, that's how I think about it," She finishes.

"No, that makes sense. I used to go to track meets all the time. I can think about it that way."

"Good then." Five purposefully ignores the 'track meet' fact. Asking would take time from studying (She also doesn't want to think too hard about Sam being at her track meets). "So to do this simply, imagine a line with the formula y=3, which makes a rectangle underneath it. It's really easy then to get the area of..."

******

Sam notices Five checking her watch, and looks up at the clock on the wall. He almost starts at the time.

'Never had the time move so fast while studying. In a good way.' He glances at Five, heart picking up when she brushes her hair back. 'I really need to tone this down. I can't be turned on by every little thing this girl does.' He turns his attention to the spread of papers covered in math in his handwriting and Five's.

"It's getting late. We probably should get going," She says.

"Well, I think I'll stick around and keep working."

"I don't think so, Yao. You're not pulling an all-nighter on my watch. Sleeping helps your memory and staying up all night does exactly the opposite."

"But, I don't think I'm ready for this quiz yet."

"That is unfortunate, but staying awake isn't going to help you."

"But..."

"Bed," She says firmly, pointing towards the door of the library.

Sam's eyes widen and Five turns red when she realizes what she said.

Sam forces himself not to wink at her, which is his first instinct.

Five clears her throat and looks at him sideways.

"Go to bed Sam. I'll see you in the morning." She begins gathering up the supplies from the table.

"Okay, okay. I'll listen to you. I hope this works." He packs his few things into his bag.

Five nods and starts off.

"Wait, um... Five?" He catches up with a hand on her shoulder. "Can I have your number? And I mean that in the most platonic, in-case-I-need-to-a-ask-question kind of way."

There's a pause, Five staring at him silently. That put Sam in a bit a predicament.

'I need to either get really close to this girl or get really far away before I do something I regret.'

"Yeah, sure." She fishes her phone out of her pocket and Sam does the same. They exchange numbers and pass them back to each other. "You'd better not be late tomorrow, Sam. Van Ark will not let you in and all my work will be for not."

"I hear you, Five. And, thanks for helping me."

"You're welcome." She turns again and heads for the door. "Get some sleep, Sam."

"Good night, Five." He calls after her and waits until she leave before heading out so she's a bit away from the building to keep himself away from staring after her.

******

Back in his apartment, it's quite a bit earlier than he'd typically be home. He doesn't expect his roommate home for a while, if at all. He’s a bit of a night owl and often finds other beds to sleep in, when he doesn’t share the bed here.

Sam heads for his room, dumping the backpack in a chair and flops onto his bed. He tosses and turns, trying to find enough comfort to fall asleep. But it’s so much earlier than he’s used to going to bed. He usually stumbles home in the wee hours of the morning and collapses, exhausted from whatever party or event he was attending into the night. And there’s another issue. Thinking about Five, especially after her slip up about beds (but also from being so close to the girl and only feeling his affection for her grow as she explained the finer points of calculus) he was a bit… excited. And there was no way he was going to be able to sleep like this.

‘Well, Five said to get a full night’s sleep. Whatever it takes to get that, suppose I have to do it.’

Though he highly doubts Five would have suggested, or approved of, him jerking off while thinking about her. Well… she doesn’t have to know.

To be fair, he did try to think about someone else (picture another face, any face) but but no one else would… work. None of the old standbys fantasies, his amazing-in-the-sack ex-girlfriend, not even his terrifying but hot as hell boss, were able to stick in his mind. They always shifted back to Five, when he was actually in bed with her and afterwards: where he watched her running intensely on the track the first day of school, got almost constantly distracted by her in the lecture hall, and today. God, being so close to her was intoxicating at worst, at the very least he felt the most content he had in a long time. And her voice... he could listen to her talk all day. She somehow managed to make math engaging. For someone he knows doesn’t talk a lot, there’s no one he’d rather listen to going on and on all day about anything.

He gives up on being able to get Five out of his head and decides to let the fantasy run wild.

He never did get a chance to try and see if he’d prefer to kiss her and use his hands to please her, getting to watch her face when he coaxed her to orgasm, or if he’d rather go down on her and discover if she’d grip his hair and twist until it hurt when she came on his mouth, feel what she could do with those legs.

Panting after a long, detailed fantasy, Sam comes to the conclusion that both would be absolutely fantastic and necessary as often as he could do them with her. If he ever got the chance to be with her like that again. Suddenly, he doesn’t feel as good as he did just a few seconds ago, his stomach dropping at the mere remembrance that she very explicitly said they were never going to be in bed together ever again.

Sure, he was so, so happy with this snippet of a relationship they currently have, and he under no circumstances wants to threaten it by making advances on her sexually. But, and this was the worst of it, he wasn’t sure he was going to be able keep himself from needing to be with her again. Can he really be satisfied with seeing her, hiding an erection, and then coming home to just fantasize alone in his bed? No one has ever had him the way Five has, made him feel this way…

******

Sam wakes up to his phone’s text message alert going off. He rolls over and sends a glare it’s way. Then he glances at his alarm clock, realizing that last night, after letting things get a bit out of hand (even he flinches at the innuendo) he never set an alarm for the class. But he’s awake now with time to get over there if he hurries only a little bit. He picks up his phone to see who he has to thank.

The most obvious thing he notices about the number is that it has never texted him before.

You had better be on your way to class, Yao. He smiles when he realizes it’s a text from Five.

‘Of course she’d be the kind to use proper punctuation and grammar.’ He shakes his head and stares at the message for a little while.

Yea, Im on my way

He send the message back and rolls out of bed and throws on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and grabs his backpack. As he’s heading out the door, he realizes how alert he feels. He even notes the two sets of shoes are the doorway, proving his roommate has company. At least it was quiet company.

He’s close enough to the lecture hall to walk quickly and get there with time to spare. He glances around and sees Five sitting in the front row with notes open, going over them.

He almost steps down the stairs to sit beside her, before deciding against it and taking a seat far behind her.

He decides to follow her lead and pull out some notes that have writing by him and Five. He focuses on the first thing the talked about, since it was less fresh in his head (Though, admittedly, he remembers every word Five had said). He doesn’t know everything he should, but he now knew more than he did. So that was something.

The professor started class by lecturing on the next topic and leaving the last twenty minutes for the quiz. Well, he said he would leave the last twenty minutes. In reality, he went over time and gave less than twenty minutes unapologetically.

Sam, didn’t feel fantastic about it, but at least he kind of had a clue as to what he didn’t know. And he actually knew the answers to some of the questions. And that was an amazing feeling. Once time is called, he looks up from the paper, then down to the spot where Five sits. But she’s already gone when he looks.

Trying not to be disappointed and reminding himself that Five probably has other things to do, he turns in his paper and heads outside. To his great surprise, Five is out there waiting. Waiting for him.

She looks up when he walks out, offering the slightest smile and holds a thumbs up, then down with a questioning expression and a shrug.

Sam returns it with a medium thumb that wavers towards up and Five’s smile brightens almost breathtakingly. He walks up to her, starting to wonder why she stuck around.

“I’ve got class in about four hours. Want to hit the library and study for a bit?”

“Um, yeah. I’d love to. I can’t stay late though. I’ve got…” He trails off when he realizes what he’s about to say. But Five’s raised eyebrow compels him to finish the thought. “I’ve got work tonight.”

Five blushes and coughs slightly uncomfortably.

“That’s okay. I’ve uh… got some flashcards you can take is you want to find some time while you’re working,” She offers softly.

“I’d like that a lot actually. Don’t you normally run after this class though?”

‘Okay, that sounded like I creepily know her schedule.’ He clenches his teeth as if that can take back the words.

“Sometimes, mostly if I need to focus or get something off my mind. I run in the morning so it’s not like I’m missing training,” She explains.

“How often do you run, Five?” He asks, following her as she starts walking towards the library.

She just shrugs, and keeps moving.

“What are your weekend plans Sam?” She asks rather suddenly.

Sam looks at her immediately and sees the color on her cheeks, either residual or new. He can’t say for sure.

“I’ve got some intensive studying planned and if I’m going to honor my promise of getting you a B, you might want to be there for at least some of it,” She says, stealing tiny glances his way that he only notices because he’s watching her so intently.

“Why are you doing this, Five?” He asks the question that’s been plaguing him for a while now.

Five looks taken aback and it takes her a while to answer. She’s obviously thinking it through for a moment.

“The best way to learn is to teach. And I could use the help of teaching for this class.” It sounds like a honest answer. Sam thinks he might hear a hint of underlying unsaid words. Or maybe he just wants there to be unsaid words.

“I could never thank you enough, do you know that?” She blushes deeper and he tries to keep from sighing happily.  
“I’m happy to help.” And she looks right at him and smiles. Wow, that shouldn’t make him feel the way it does. “So, couple hours to get some studying done. Ready?”

Sam just smiles and nods.

******

Five is warming up on the track just as the sun is setting, loosening her muscles from sitting most of the day.

‘That is no way to live,’ She thinks with a smile.

“Heya Five,” A voice says from behind her.

She offers a smile over her shoulder when Sara strides up causally, dumping her bag beside the track.

“Feels like I haven’t seen you lately. Not much since that bachelorette party.”

Five is glad her back is turned so Sara can’t see her face warm up. Though she’s sure Sara knew that comment would elicit that response.

“Well, class. I’ve been busy,” Five answers with only a little strain.

“‘Course. You’re always a busy bee during school.” Sara starts limbering up. “Do you happen to have time to hang out with your old friend Runner Eight tonight?”

“No, I’ve got some studying I need to be doing.” The silence hangs for a while and normally Five would just leave it that way, but Sara made her curious. “Why?”

“Well, I was going to head out to the Shack to blow off a little steam. Did you know they let you request to see a specific person as long as they are on shift?” Five again blushes, thinking about the fact that Sam is, in fact, on shift tonight. She tries not to think about visiting Sam in that same room, doing the same things they did before. Her face is absolutely on fire when such suppression of thoughts fails.

“No, I think I can find my own dates,” Five answers after significant time has passed.

“I’m not talking about dates, Five,” Sara grins at her.

“And I’m not looking to sleep with someone I don’t know.” Five retorts quickly.

“You know them now don’t you? And they know you pretty intimately.”

“Are we going to run or not?” Five demands with narrowed eyes.

“Sure, Five. Let’s run.” Sara lets the subject fall, at least for now. She probably got the information she wanted anyways.

Sara lines up beside Five on the track, neither crouching, just glancing at each other then starting off at the same time at a steady pace.

The pair run together, pace for pace, speeding up until they’re at a steady run. Sara could run much faster, she’s probably the fastest on the team, but she keeps her speed just slow enough that Five is pushing to keep up.

“You seem a bit distracted Five. More internal than usually. Something bothering you?” Despite the pokes and jokes at Five’s expense, she knows Sara cares about her. The whole team and all her friends do. And she’d do anything for them in return.

“Just thinking. I, uh… actually made a new friend.” She decides to tell Sara on her own terms, before the runner can dig it out on her own and make wild theories.

“Oh really? You, the ever social Five? Who makes friends around every corner?”

Five swings playfully at Sara arm which she easily dodges by hopping into the next lane, giving Five room to stumble and right herself before taking to her lane again.

“So, who is this new friend?” Sara asks.

“In my class. We’ve been studying together,” Five answers with as much casualness as she can manage. If anyone were able to hear any waver in her voice then decipher it, it would be Sara.

“They have a name?” She questions.

“Sam,” Five tries to let the name have no meaning attached to it. Lots of people have that name; hell, it could even be a girl’s name.

“Well, if they’re studying with you, I sorely hope they can keep up with your scattered brain,” With that, Sara picks up the pace, forcing Five to be faster.

When Five looks at her with indignity, Sara just laughs.

“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. You just think quickly, like you do a lot of things. It’s just your nature, Five.” She barely breathing hard at the pace.

“Right.” Five tries to hide the smile. It’s a rare compliment for Sara.

They run for a bit in silence, a comfortable sort of silence. Sara is still running at a speed Five has to struggle to keep up with, but damn if Five will slow down. After a time, Sara’s watch alarm goes off and she looks down. She slows down until they’re cooled down then walking a quarter of a lap. The two of them stretch out in synchrony.

“Well, I’d better getting going,” Sara states and starts for her bag.

Five nods simply in her direction. Limbering up still will help her from being too sore like she usually after running with Sara.

“Maybe you should invite your new friend to play D&D with us. We’re starting a new campaign next week. I’m sure Maxine would welcome a new player.”

Five lets that thought run for a second, trying to imagine Sam sitting around the kitchen table with all her friends playing a dice based roll paying game. And the image is just a bit ridiculous.

“I don’t think it’ll be his thing.”

“Alright, but I want to meet this boy sometime. Any new friend of Five’s is a rare creature that I need to see to believe,” Sara tosses over her shoulder as she’s walking away, not giving Five any opportunity to respond.

It’s only after Sara is gone that Five realizes she made a reveal she didn’t mean to make. She curses under her breath.

******

Sam is flipping through the cards with Five’s handwriting intently. It was so much easier to pay attention when imaging Five’s voice speaking to him. Every stroke of the pen seems to speak of Five’s personality. Steady strokes, small letters, but bold capitalized letters. He might be able to just stare at the writing. It seems like a little too much, but at least he’s using the strange obsession to study.

“Hey Sammy.” The couch kicks him up when the person sit on the other side. It could technically be anyone, anyone who works in the Shack and uses the admittedly nice, yet sparse employee lounge. But no one else would bother him like this. And lean in so close.

“Go away. I’m studying,” He purposefully doesn’t look over.

“Studying? What are you studying that’s so important to ignore your ol’ friend?” An arm quickly reaches out and grabs the cards from Sam’s hands.

“Hey, give those back. I’m trying to work.” But the longer arms have pulled his flash cards far away from his reach.

“Math Sammy? Who wants to work on math when there are women to bed?”

“I do. I’ve got an important class that I need to pass.” Sam stands up and tries to snatch the cards back but he can’t get to them as the man holds his hand up and away like he’s playing keep away with a kid.

“This isn’t your scrawl Sam. Where’d you get these?”

“A friend in my class gave them to me and I’d prefer you didn’t mess them up.” Sam finally grabs them and the hand releases them.

“It looks familiar…” He mutters almost inaudibly. “So, have you seen that girl you’ve been going on about here again?”

“No,” Sam answers, sitting down at the table to be away from him.

“Don’t worry. As long as it was as good as you think, she’ll come back. They always do.” He winks.

“Not so sure about that…” Sam mutters.

“What? Not confident you pleased her enough? Happens to the best of us.” Sam sends a glare his way.

“You can shut up now, Simon.” But then the door opens and the woman beckons for Simon distractedly.

“Sorry, gotta go. Duty calls.” Simon stands with a flourish and starts for the door. They start to leave, but then she seems to double check her notes after seeing Sam in the room.

“Mr. Yao, you are needed in room two. You’ll be with a new comer.” Sam almost sighs.

They like to put him with newbies. He seems to have a way to set them at ease. It gets a bit tedious at times. Then again… that is how he met Five.

Five. Why did he have to think about her right now, of all times. (Though he’s found it’s a rare time when he’s not thinking about her). Good God he was in trouble.

He did go into room two though, did his job. The girl was pretty, in all traditional ways. And it was good sex. She kept asking him if it would be extra. ‘Will eating me out be extra?’ ‘Is cuddling extra?’ Didn’t matter how many times he said no, she kept asking. He tried not to let it grate his nerves.

They talked after. Well, she did most of it, he patiently listened. Some people really like to talk. He shouldn’t complain too much, he’s one of them. Certainly those who don’t talk much find him annoying. People like Five.

“Damnit,” He mumbles under his breath.

The girl, Amber he remembers, turns her head to look at him.

“What’s wrong?” She asks with genuine concern.

“Nothing, it’s nothing.” He goes for a kiss, being comforting and lover-like. His lips find her cheek and he whispers into it. “Anything else you want me to do?”

“Hm, this is nice for now. How… long can I stay here? Without having to get more money?” She questions.

“S’long as you want really,” He responds, though he hopes not too long. He wants to keep studying and he’s required to take a shower after every ‘encounter’, as impliment by his boss. You could say a lot of things about her, but she really did try to run a good operation, as unpredictable as this ‘field’ can be.

“I’ll stay a little longer. This is nice.”

“Yeah, it is,” Sam agrees with as much conviction as he can muster. He can’t help but think about a different person he’d rather be in bed with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I've got some time to write now, and I'm not sure exactly what I want to work on next for the fandom, so if anyone has any suggestions. If anyone really wants more from either of the series I've shared, I'll do my best. If someone has a cool prompt, let me hear it. I also have one in progress I might try to finish in I get no answers/inspiration from anyone here. Anyways, thanks for reading!


	4. Watch What Happens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Friend in crisis. It’s kinda my bat signal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title comes from an other Newsies song (of which I am having such a difficult time picking from). Please enjoy.

“Thanks for inviting me to this Five. And… waking me up this morning.”

“You get three of those for free Yao. After that, it’s gonna cost you.” Five says sternly.

Sam starts to laugh but certainly believes her.

“Yeah, okay. What are you charging for such services?” Sam questions.

Five thinks on it for a moment.

“Hm... Probably lunch. Girl’s gotta eat.”

“Alright, it’s a date then,” Sam says casually, faltering in his step when he realizes what he said. “I don’t mean… More I meant… It’s… A standing lunch date. Because I have a feeling I’m going to need this a few more times.” Pausing… he starts again. “Being woken up, I mean. Lunch would be great though.”

“You get flustered really easy considering what you do, Sam.” Five smiles and blushes slightly.

“School and work has never really been close before. It’s a bit weird.” He scrathces at the back of his neck.

“I agree with you there.”

Sam glances over at her to see that the blush is warming her cheeks. He reasons that he matches right now.

“And you didn’t have to come for this. It’s a bit involved and kind of... crazy.”

“Well, we’re going to lock ourselves away after this and you didn’t know when you’d be done, it makes sense for me to come along so we can head over afterwards.”

“Okay, not my fault if you get a bit lost.”

“That’s just my life. Not much different than I normally am.”

“We’ll try to fix that,” Five replies with a smile.

******

When they arrive at the library, the man working at the front calls to Five and points to a study room in the corner where someone already sits.

“You come here often, huh?” Sam asks Five.

“Actually, I work here. Couple hours a week,” Five answers.

“Really? You work at Mullins Library? You are such a nerd.”

“Hey now, you of all people cannot make fun of where I work,” Five whispers.

“Fair enough.” Sam follows Five’s lead on being quiet. It is a library after all.

Five knocks softly on the study room’s door then pushes it open.

The person sitting at the desk doesn’t even look up from his papers so it’s hard to know if he even noticed.

“Hey Chris. I brought a friend to study with us. I hope you don’t mind.”

Chris McShell looks up and Sam immediately recognizes him as a literal genius in some of his engineering classes. It seems Chris recognizes him as well.

“Him?” He asks Five, pointing at Sam using a freshly sharpened pencil. Five nods. “The guy who has slept through Fluid Mechanics?”

Sam feels himself blushing and shrinking away.

“Oh, common on Ten. He asked me for help and he’s really making an effort here. Please, for me at least?” Five makes a bit of a show, of leaning on her elbows and batting her eyes. It actually reminds Sam of Simon, oddly enough. It’s was exactly the kind of thing he’d do. But Five being anything like Simon was a bit ridiculous of an idea.

“Fine, he can stay. But don’t be surprised of he nods off in the middle of it.” Five glances at Sam and nods to a seat and takes one herself.

“So you still have the notes from last time,” Chris asks Five without acknowledging Sam.

“Yes I do.” Five presents a notebook and turns to a blank page, almost halfway through it.

“So with the parameters laid out in the previous session; an increase in panic, the fluid dynamics of the crowd will react in such a way…”

Sam sits for a while, confused as Five takes notes and nods, occasionally offering input, to which Chris usually agrees as he madly scribbled on his own paper.

A piece of paper bumps into his hand and he looks down at it then up at Five. Five smiles at him, and glance down at the note. Sam gets the hint and reads the note.

‘We are discussing the way people move during emergency situations. Panic’ The word panic is surrounded by a sharp bubble drawing as an emphasis.

‘Why?’ Sam writes back on the paper.

‘For funsies.’ This is including a sketch of a goofy smiley face.

Sam huffs a laugh.

‘It’s something I thought about and Chris really rolled with it.’

‘Well, it seems like fun.’

‘You say that, but you don’t mean it.’

Sam laughs and Five joins at a snicker.

Chris looks up from his writing, sending a glare in Sam’s direction. Five leans in a little closer to Sam, offering a smile.

With an indulgent smile that almost looked like it hurt, Chris goes back to writing.

Five glances at Sam with a smile and goes back to writing notes.

‘So imagine there’s a thousand people in the movie theater and someone yells fire, how does every one person act in the situation?’

‘That’s what that curve equation means?’

‘Hey, nice! You recognize the wave equation.’

Sam can’t help but be impressed by Five’s ability to keep up Chris (with all this seemingly random numbers and equations) and help explain the topic to him. He might not understand it all that great, but he’s still impressed.

“Chris, it’s getting about that time,” Five says suddenly.

Sam looks up at Five and sees Chris checking the clock a moment after.

“Yep, I’ve gotta get going. See you at practice Five.” He packs at breakneck speed and heads out the door.

“See ya Chris,” Five calls while putting away the notes related to this conversation and removing notes for Van Ark’s class.

“Chris is on the track team?” Sam asks.

“Yep. That’s how we know each other. He’s the most engaging guy to talk about when on long distance runs. He’ll save the world one day with math, promise you that.”

“Well, I know that. We’ve been in the same classes before. I think teachers try to be his pet. He’s that good at math.”

Five laughs.

“Wouldn’t be surprised. He’s actually the reason I took this class. Thought I’d like it.”

“You don’t have to take this class, but you are?” Sam asks, side-eyeing Five.

“I like to keep myself mentally stimulated,” Five answers casually.

“Mental something,” Sam mutters under his breath, only to receive a playful glare from Five.

“I will admit, I’m not exactly always the easiest person to comprehend. I have very little method and lots of madness. But we should get started. Lot’s of work to do, not a lot of time to do it.”

“You said we’d be here all weekend.”

“But you will see Sam, that is not a lot of time at all.”

******

Five easily shifts gears from whatever she is working on at the moment to talk to Sam when he begins looking confused. They’re still sitting right next to each other and Five leans in closer to help Sam. At first he was really conscious of it how close Five gets, but eventually it stopped being of concern.

When Five’s phone buzzes, Sam half expects her not to pick it up, but she gets a mildly concerned look on her face at the first look. As she continues to read, her eyes widen and Sam almost hears a curse under her breath, though no curse word that he knows.

“I… I need to go. My friend Lem, he’s in a bit of trouble.”

“Oh, do you need help?” Sam asks.

“No, I should be good. He’s right down the street. I’ll be right back.” She pockets the phone but leaves her bag.

“Okay. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“Thanks, sorry about this.” And with that, Five is out the door, closing it behind her. Sam turns in his seat to watch her go, waving at the person at the front, and rushing out the door.

Left in the quiet library alone (something that hasn’t happened since he lived at home) he starts back to work, solving practice problems like Five suggested.

He’d forgotten how productive it felt to be in a library, peaceful and like studying is the most normal thing you could be doing.

‘Maybe later I’ll brows the selves. Find something interesting to read.’ But for now, he goes back to studying, waiting for Five to get back.

******

When Five does finally open the door again, she was gone for a pretty long time. He’d begun to worry about her and was about to call.

“Sorry, it took me so long. Lem should really know by now not to call me. I’m a magnet for more trouble.”

“What happened? You look a little frazzled.”

“It was a thing at Mill Road. Issues… kinda involved. Not important either. Back to work.”

“Okay, okay. But who is Lem?” He needs at least a clue.

“Friend from New Canton University. We ran in track meets against each other. Always know the other one is one of the most qualified people to help. We really only see each other when things are going down. Good guy though.” Five runs her hands over her hair, still a little out of breath. “Shall we continue?”

“You are going to have to tell me some of your stories one day,” He says with a smile half returning his attention to his papers.

“Maybe I will. How are these going?” She leans close to check over his work and just like that they continue with the study routine for hours on, barely breaking for snacks and meals, work still in front of them even then.

******

As it get later into the night, he catches himself and Five yawning more and more frequently.

“When do you normally go to sleep when doing this?” He questions around another yawn.

“Usually around one.” Five checks her phone and tosses it towards one of the couches in the study room. “Which is around now.” She yawns in response to him, stretching her back against the chair.

“Is it really?” The shock is almost enough to wake Sam up. “Wow, time flies when you’re having fun.”

“You don’t think this is fun,” Five say with a very teasing voice.

“Yes I do. This is the most fun I’ve had in ages.”

He turns to face her, only to see she was already leaning in to look at him with those bright eyes full of happiness, like she’s ready to make another quip. But their faces almost touched each other in that moment.

‘Close enough to kiss,” Sam can’t help but think.

‘Oh wow. How did I forget how nice his eyes are?’ Five blinks owlishly.

Five pulls back first and Sam quickly follows, clearing his throat.

“So what do you normally do about sleeping for this lock-in event of yours?”

“Usually lure unsuspecting people to isolated locations, wait for them to pass out, and murder them whilst they sleep.” Five says it with such a straight face that Sam just stares at her, waiting for her to break and crack a smile. But Five remains blank.

“Well I can think of worse ways to die,” Sam finally says, receiving the smile he has really grown to like. He just wants to be back to ‘close enough to kiss’ again, even if her knows he shouldn’t kiss her, as much as he wants to.

“I didn’t say it would be quick. Anyways, there’s two couches and I’ll tell you they’re both comfortable enough to sleep on. I brought a pair of blankets if you want one, but it’s usually warm enough.” Five stands and moves around the table and sits down on the couch.

“It’s definitely an… interesting mode of operation,” Sam comments.

“You can say it. You think I’m weird.”

“No, I did not say that. I actually think you’re pretty great,” He says it with such casualness that the compliment sounds unintended.

“Oh, uh, thanks. You’re pretty good too,” Five responds lamely.

Sam smiles back genuinely, and kind of shyly.

“Before we settle in, I’ve drunk too much caffeine. I’ll be right back.” He get’s out of the study room and set out for the bathroom. The library is closed now, the lights all off. It’s sort of an eerie feel, in the dark with bookcases looming. Slightly less inviting, so Sam moves quickly.

Once in the bathroom he leans against the door in a slight panic.

‘I’ll be sleeping in the same room as Five.’ Yes he knew that in principle, but it didn’t really occur to him until just now. ‘What if I do something stupid and regrettable? I don’t talk in my sleep, do I?’

Turning on the sink, he splashes cold water on his face.

‘It’s cool. I can have a normal night with Five nearby. Not a big deal, just stay normal. Imagine we’re both staying at my parent’s house.’

That helps, a little. He’s still a bit anxious but he can’t hide in the bathroom of an empty library all night.

Five is stretched out on the couch when he comes back. Sam shouldn’t find it as alluring as he does. Nothing about Five’s pose is purposefully suggestive, but Sam has to pull his eyes away ruffled hair, misaligned clothes, and bare feet. It’s a ‘just woke up’ look that he finds incredibly intimate.

“Well, I guess I’ll turn in over here. Night.”

“Hit the lights?” Five asks drowsily.

“Course,” Sam says, backtracking and flipping off the light, leaving them in the dark. He kicks off his shoes so he can get comfortable.

“Night Sam,” Five whispers and Sam sinks quietly into his couch, trying not to get too caught up on the sound of Five’s voice.

“Night,” He says, realizing he already said that and burrows deeper into the couch.

They’re left with that strange silence, like at a sleepover when both people know the other is awake but no one is speaking. Sam hears Five roll over and tiredness pulls him down into sleep.

******

A phone ringing in the night wakes Sam up. He hears Five move and pick up the phone.

“Hello?” Five says in a sleepy voice.

“Sorry Five, I thought you might still be awake. I knew you were at the library.”

“It’s fine. What’s up, Maxine?”

“I just… I need someone to talk to. And you’re a good listener.”

“Hit me,” Five responds.

“Okay… Here goes. I’m having second thoughts about the wedding.”

Five sits quietly for a moment, Sam props himself up to look at her.

“Is something wrong?” Five asks.

“No, no. Everything with Lou has been fine. But the problem is… Do you remember the Shack, where we went for my bachelorette party?”

Five can’t help but glance over at Sam at the mention of this.

“Yeah, I remember the night. Sorry I ducked out of that early. I just needed to get home.”

“Oh, I didn’t know you did. I stayed all night,” Maxine says a little abashed.

Five pauses for a moment before speaking.

“Wow, I didn’t realize. What happened?”

“I meet some one there and she was amazing. We stayed up all night talking. We shared so many interests. And I don’t know if I’ll be able to go through with the wedding.”

“Slow down Max. You’re sounding frantic. Take a breath,” Five pauses, waiting to hear Maxine suck in a breath. “Talk to me.”

“I love Lou, you know that. But I’m afraid I meet someone I would rather spend my entire life with after I’ve committed to her. What if I get married to Lou and I’m actually in love with someone else?”

Five sighs, rubbing at her head.

“That’s tough. Have you talked to Lou? I know she’d be willing to work on things.”

“I know she would, but how can I talk to my potential life partner about something that I can’t even figure out myself?” Maxine asks.

“Well, that’s why I’m here.” Five swings her legs around and sits up in the couch. Five looks at Sam, pointing towards the door and mouthing a ‘want me to leave?’.

Sam shakes his head and waves his hand. He can’t hear the other side of the conversation, but it sounds important.

“I don’t even know why I called you really. I was just laying here and thinking and was wondering who else in this town would possibly be awake at this hour. You were the only person I could think of.”

Five laughs, and it gets Maxine to laugh as well.

“We really shouldn’t both be up at this time in the morning. Very little good can happen this early but a nice night run. Not great for thinking deeply,” Five says. “I think you should get some sleep. Why don’t we meet for lunch tomorrow and talk to each other’s faces?”

“Don’t you need to study?”

“You’re having a life crisis. I can come with flashcards and listen to you. I’m just happy you call me for an ear. I always thought I was a secondary friend to you,” Five says teasingly.

“More like tertiary,” Maxine laughs.

Five smiles and lets the quiet hold for a moment, listening to Maxine breath.

“You gonna be okay for the night?” Five finally asks.

“Yeah. Thanks for talking me down. I’ll let you get back to sleep.”

“Alright, see you tomorrow.”

“Good night Five.” Maxine hangs up the phone.

Five sets the phone down and rubs her face.

“Friend in crisis. It’s kinda my bat signal."

“Not a problem. Hope things are okay,” Sam sits up and crosses his legs.

“Well, that a difficult judgment. Is someone questioning getting married in a few weeks truly okay? Hard to tell over the phone if it’s just cold feet or more serious. I’ll have to go see her.”

“Yeah, that is rough. So tomorrow I’ll be on my own?”

“Just a couple hours. You can handle that right?” Five says jokingly, slipping down the couch to get comfortable.

“I don’t know; you’re pretty much my whole motivation in this.” Sam freezes, kicking himself mentally.

‘Why on Earth did I say that out loud?’

“Well,” Five’s glad for the darkness so he can’t see her blushing. “I guess you’ll just have to be your own motivation for a while. Or think of something else to motivate you.”

“Right, I think I can handle that,” Sam says quickly.

“Good. Now go back to sleep. More to do in the morning.”

Okay, Five. Night.” Sam stretches out on the couch and settles in, eventually falling back asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who worked at a desk this week and was finally able to write? It was me. Sorry this took so long, but I cannot promise the next one will be timely either. Thanks for enduring me. Hope you enjoyed!


	5. The Bottom Line

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He’s no good for you.” “I’m sorry?”

“Hey Five,” Maxine says from her table. Five notes the multiple water rings on the table.

“Hello Max, you doing alright?”

“I’m okay. Didn’t sleep all that well.”

“Understandable. You want to talk about it?” Five takes a seat across for her.

“So now you know I stay all night at The Shack,” Five nods, blushing slightly. “And, it wasn’t like that,” Maxine says as if reacting to Five’s blushing. “We actually stayed up all night just talking.”

“Oh, so she was…”

“Amazing. She’s a scientist, and she listened to everything I said. She’s also a huge nerd.”

Five huffs a laugh.

“So she’s like you?” Five responds.

“Yeah, I think that’s why I liked her so much. But how can I really like someone if I met her once and will probably never see again.”

“Well, maybe you should try to meet her again. Possibly outside The Shack. That’s kind of the only way you are going to get normal interaction.” Five is definitely not thinking about Sam when saying this.

“I didn’t get her number, not even her last name. All I know is that her name is Paula and she works in a lab. Dr. Van Ark I think.”

“Van Ark? He’s my professor.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I’ve been to his office hours. I bet I could ask him to see his lab or something. I could track down this Paula for you. Get her your number.”

“I don’t know about this Five…”

“Hey, if I get her your number and she doesn’t call, you know its not meant to be. If she does… Well, we can play it from there.”

“Would you really do that for me Five?”

“Of course I would. It’s not even a lot on my part. I don’t think you can go through the rest of your life without knowing. I… I wouldn’t be able to.” Five tries not to blush when remembering all the time she spent thinking about Sam before school started.

“I don’t think I could. Thanks Five. What would we do without you?” Maxine asks.

“Bet you’d be fine. I always seem to bring on trouble.”

“Come on. We couldn’t do it without you.”

“I do my best. So tell me about this Paula. What does she look like?”

******

When Five arrive back the library, Sam can’t help but note the slightly conspiratorial look on her face.

“Uh… Hey Five. What’s going on?” He asks as she sits down across from him.

“Hm?”

“You look like you’re plotting something. Does it involve me? Just so I can be prepared.”

“What? Oh, no. Something else. Just… I’m doing something for my friend Maxine. It’s not exactly sneaky, but it kind of feels like it is. You know?”

“I’m not sure that I understand, but okay. I’ll take your word for it.”

“Anyways, let’s get back to work. The weekend is almost over and we’ve got plenty to do.”

******

After class on Monday, Sam sat with Five in the front row. They were talking quietly about the days notes, while Five was waiting to go with the professor to his office hours. Sam wasn’t going to be able to join because he had work. Strictly speaking, he probably should have left already, but he liked talking to Five and would take the brief opportunity to do so.

As the professor finished up speaking to another student, he turned his attention to the two others loitering in the hall. He sends a slightly derisive glance at the boy, a well know slacker among engineering professors. He then looks to the girl, who seems like a diligent worker, has been to his office hours before. She smiles at something the boy says and he beams back at her.

“What can I do for you two?” He approaches the pair. Apparently, they had been so engrossed in their conversation they didn’t notice him coming.

“Well professor, I actually have sort of a request.”

“I’ll see you later Five,” The boy mutters and hitches his bag over one shoulder and starts up the stairs.

“Five, did he say? Is that your real name?” The professor asks.

“No sir, it’s a nickname. I don’t want to take up much of your time. I’ve been looking into some of the papers you’ve published and I’m very interested in learning more about it,” She says briskly.

“Oh?” He questions. “It’s always nice to hear about students taking an interest in the latest scientific study.”

“Yes, I admire the progressiveness of your research. And I was curious about the equipment in the lab. I know it’s out of the ordinary, but I was wondering if I could tour the facility some time?”

He regards her for a long moment, thinking.

“Alright, how about now? Some very interesting experiments happening today,” He finally states, grabbing his suitcase and placing papers inside.

“What about your office hours?”

“Oh, I’ll have one of my TAs cover it. Nothing to worry about.” He finishes packing and closes the case. “Shall we then? It’s just a brisk walk from here.”

“Sure,” Five agrees. She expected having to make an appointment or something. She didn’t even have what she was going to give to Paula when and if she found the woman. But a runner is nothing if not flexible.

Walking with Professor Van Ark is definitely awkward. Five’s not good at conversations with strangers in the first place. Doesn’t help that the professor is silent too.

They arrive at the building and Van Ark opens the door with a key card. Five finds the hallways a bit too sterile for her liking, but then again, it’s a lab.

“Hope you don’t mind if I step into my office for a moment,” Van Ark finally says.

“Not at all Professor,” Five responds easily.

Without another word, he steps into a room and closes the door behind him.

As soon as the door is shut, Five flips her backpack around and digs a piece of paper and a pen out of it. Leaning on the wall, she begins to scrawl a message on the paper. The texture of the wall makes the note seem a lot more cryptic then she intended, but before she can think of redoing it, the door begins to open so she stuffs the note in her pocket and the pen back in the bag.

“Now, that’s better.” Van Ark steps out wearing a lab coat and no longer carrying his brief case. “On with the tour then, aye?”

******

The lab was indeed impressive. The equipment was state of the art. But Five had yet to see hardly any people working there, and the few she had did not fit Maxine description of Paula.

‘Maybe she’s not even at work today. Then I completely miss this chance…’

“Ah, Paula. Glad to see you hard at work.”

‘Well… Good luck it is then…’

“Good evening professor. Who is this?” The woman asks with a glance at Five.

“Just a student of mine that I’m showing around. Don’t let us interrupt you. Keep going as you were.”

“Yes, of course.” With that Paula goes back to whatever she was doing but Five is hardly paying attention. That is definitely the Paula that Maxine was going on about, no doubt. Now she had to figure out how to get the note to her.

As Van Ark watch Paula working, steadily in spite of the observation, Five looks around casually for something that is Paula’s.

The book left open on the table, would most likely be hers. There’s no one else around for it to belong to.

“Professor, I did have something I wanted to show you.” By a stroke of luck, Paula calls Van Ark to look at a computer screen.

Five grasps the opportunity and slips silently towards the book and slides her scrawled note between some of the further pages. Hopefully it will fall out before too long and be discovered. There wasn’t a ton of time before Maxine gets married. Well, she gave it a go. At least she now knew where Paula could be found.

“Well, that certainly is interesting. We will have to do further research. Thank you Paula.” He returns to where Five is, having returned to the same spot. “Five, I think it’s time to head out soon.” 

“Of course, very nice to meet you Paula,” Five says toward the woman, then follows after Van Ark.

Five’s luck held up a lot better then normal and now Paula has the note. It went so much better than expected.

Shortly after this, Van Ark takes Five back to his office.

“Would you like to come in for a moment?” He offers, having not said much as they walk back.

“Oh…” Five wasn’t really expecting to be invited in; it kind of threw her. “Sure,” Five answers, not wanting to be rude. The professor had, after all, taken time out of his day to show her around. And at a really short notice.

In the office, Five watches as Van Ark sheds his coat and hangs it on a hook. Then he loosens his tie.

“Have a seat if you’d like.” He points to a wooden chair,

“I don’t want to take up to much more of your time Professor,” Five says politely.

“Don’t run off on me before we’ve had a chance to talk. Take a seat.” So Five sits down slowly.

“Thanks again for the tour. You have a really amazing facility.”

“It serves its purpose,” He responds plainly. Another stretch of silence follows as Van Ark seems to be studying her. “I will admit, I rarely have a student in my class that is not known among my colleagues.”

“Well, I’m not an engineering student. My friend Chris suggested I take this class though, he thought I’d enjoy it,” Five explains.

“Very interesting. I can admire your high aspirations. I can see that your potential is certainly far reaching.”

“Thank you Professor.” Another long pause follows

“He’s no good for you,” He says after significant silence.

“I’m sorry?” Five questions.

“That boy, I’m afraid you would see your great potential squandered with him.” Van Ark leans back in his chair.

“Sam?” Five asks.

“Yes, the slacker.”

“Sir, I’m… not dating Sam. I’m tutoring him,” Five offers skeptically.

“Hm. Well that’s very interesting. With the way he looks at you… Could have had me fooled.” 

Five mulls over what he says for a moment.

“In my opinion, I don’t think he is worth your precious time to bother with. He isn’t destined for being much of anything,” He continues casually.

“I think it’s time for me to leave Professor. Thank you again for the tour.” Five stands and shifts her backpack on her shoulder.

“See you next time Five.” He pronounces Five very carefully to her back as she walks away.

Outside, Five tries to shake off the odd comment. She did what she set out to do, now to report that to Maxine.

******

Sam’s fingers are tapping on the arm of the couch as he stares at his phone. He wants to text Five, really bad. Why does he want to text her so badly?

He picks up the phone and taps out a message. hey how’d it go with van ark?  
But then he deletes the message, starts to type something else, then deletes that too. With a sigh, he puts the phone back down on the couch.

Suddenly the phone buzzes and he grabs it, juggling it briefly and flipping it around to read the message.

Hey Sam. What’s up? The text is undoubtedly from Five, just based on the syntax. He doesn’t even need to look at the name to know that right away.

R u a mindreader or something i was about to text you

I was just texting my friend and I saw the little thingy by your name.

Sam bumps his head onto the phone, feeling like an idiot.

i was just going to ask how things went with van ark Sam replies after some thought.

The lab was interesting. And it was mission accomplished.

good!!!! Sam replies, smiling at his phone. He barely notices when someone else walks into the break room.

He smiles as Five continues talking to him.

“Who you texting Sam?” The voice asks from by the refrigerator.

“Friend from school,” Sam answers.

“Just a friend. Right,” He says doubtfully and pulls out a drink and takes a seat next to him.

“What do you mean, Jack?” Sam asks.

“Nothing, nothing,” Jack drawls.

“No, tell me what you mean.” Sam sets his phone down on his lap.

“It’s just… you’re smiling so wide makes me think it’s not just a friend.”

“What!?! No! I am just texting a friend,” Sam defends.

Jack just grins at him smugly.

“Here look, we are just talking about class. See.” Sam hands Jack his phone and he gleefully scrolls through it.

“Sam, you have to give your conquests numbers. How far does it go over five, you dog?”

“That’s a nickname.” Sam snatches his phone back.

“That’s what I was saying,” Jack responds.

“No! I mean… Never mind. Nothing I say is going to convince you other wise. Might as just say that Five is my girlfriend.” The way his stomach flips is completely unwarranted.

“Oh!” Jack coos, pointing at his face. “You are blushing so badly Sam.”

“Okay, okay. Knock it off. I get it.” Sam crosses his arms and turns away.

“Aw, no need to be embarrassed. We all have people that make our hearts sing.” Dramatically, Jack puts a hand over his heart and sighs. “I’m glad to see you’ve got a someone again.”

“Whatever you say Jack,” Sam replies plainly.

Suddenly, Sam’s phone buzzes in his lap and he pretends that he doesn’t want to check it right way. But he just asked Five when they would meet up again, and he does want to know the answer.

“Oh, just answer the text already. You know you want to.” Jack grins at him, trying to look over his shoulder when he opens the phone.

I know you work late tonight. I think me and my roommate will be doing dinner tonight. So I’ll see you tomorrow, after you have class?

He nods thoughtfully, and types out a message. He slowly stops and looks up at Jack, who is watching him carefully.

“Would you back off?”

“Sorry, sorry. It’s just so cute watching you smile like that.”

“I’m not smiling.” Sam consciously has to turn his lips down.

“Sure you’re not.”

Ignoring him, Sam finishes his text to Five.

sounds good, should i meet you at the track?

Five is quick to respond.

Yeah, and bring some of those little drink pouches of yours. I really like them!

Sam huffs a laugh, refusing to look at Jack afterwards.

k have a good dinner

I will, see you tomorrow.

bye

He puts his phone back into his pocket.

“Scheduling a romantic getaway?” Jack asks.

“No, just studying,” Sam says firmly.

“’Studying’. Come on, we all know you took the next few weekends off. That’s some of the best hours. Who’d do that without having someone… sorry, something better to do?”

“No, we spent the entire weekend together…” He glares at Jack when he’s grin become suggestive. “Studying! And nothing sexual happen at all.”

“Of course not. Nothing ever happens when books are open near by.” Jack winks at him.

“I’m done here. Bye, I’m out.” Sam stands up and starts out of the room.

“No, Sam!” Jack whines. “I’m just playing around.”

“I’ll see you later.”

Jack pouts as Sam leaves out the door. Outside, Sam leans against the door and sighs.

‘Man, talking about Five should not be so… I don’t even know how it makes me feel.’ He thinks, pulling out his phone and reading over Five’s messages again and smiling, and catching himself.

God, he knows he’s in trouble. He knows.

******

Five gets down with English and decides that running on the track just isn’t enough for today.

Hey Jo. Want to go for a trail run?

It doesn’t take long Jody for to respond.

Oh heck yes!!!!

Five grins.

Meet you at Red Park.

Excited, Five heads off to the locker room to change and starts running to meet Jody at the park.

Jody is already at the park by the time Five arrives, stretching eagerly.

“Hey Five!” Jody greets brightly. “So I was thinking that tonight we could make that pasta we have and watch a DVD?”

“That sounds great! You pick the movie.”

“You always let me pick you the movie,” Jody laughs.

“And I always enjoy it.”

“Alright then. I have something in mind.”

“Knew you would. Shall we run?”

“Oh, yes. Let’s.”

The two of them are well matched for running together. Not the super competitive type running that usually crops up with other runners. They can run casually, meaning they could probably go for miles on end barely getting tired. 

Jody recounts her day and asks Five about hers.

Five tells her a little bit about Van Ark’s lab, but leaves out why she was there. That’s Maxine’s business.

“I bet Chris would positively drool at that place,” Jody cuts in.

“I’m sure he’s already been there. Bet he’s been to the professor’s home for dinner too. Teachers really like him.” The two of them have to run single-file for a while as the trail narrows.

“That’s true. Probably the godfather to some teacher’s kids.”

“Wouldn’t doubt it.”

“Yeah… So, I heard you made a new friend I haven’t seen yet.”

“Sara told you, didn’t see?” Five says with complete casualness.

“Well… yeah,” Jody admits.

“Should have suspected as much…” Five mutters.

“I think she’s just… happy for you,” Jody replies quickly. She trots to catch up when the trail widens again.

“Why would she be ‘happy’ for me? He’s just a study buddy. Nothing else.” Five now has gotten much better at defending this. It may just be easier to do so to Jody though.

“I know,” Jody says. “Just, I was surprised to hear that. I haven’t seen him yet,” She continues.

“Oh, well I guess I haven’t had him over to the apartment. We’ve done most of the studying on campus and the library.” Five has to duck under a low hanging branch, which she does easily because it has been there for as long as they’ve been running here.

“That makes sense. But you should have him over. What about tonight? He could have dinner with us.” Jody’s enthusiasm is obvious as she grins at Five, carefully picking across a rocky portions of the path.

“He can’t tonight. He’s working.” Five says, hardly looking down to make her way across the same path.

“Okay, then later. We’ll have dinner and make cookies or something.”

“That could be fun,” Five replies. Imagining Sam in her home is weird, but not completely unimaginable. Not unpleasant either.

By now, they’ve gotten back to the trailhead and start stretching out before walking back to the apartment. They keep chatting for a while, discussing the next D&D campaign, Jody’s job, and other apartment related topics.

Once back, Five gets the dinner started while Jody takes a quick shower. She starts boiling water for pasta and heating up sauce.

As soon as Jody finishes and takes over the food prep, Five goes to take a shower. The water’s cold but Five’s quick. Beside, pasta doesn’t take long to cook and she’s hungry. 

They settle in on the couch with plates, starting the movie and digging into heavy plates of spaghetti.

It is really nice to spend time with Jody. Five has been so focused on Van Ark’s class recently. It’s nice to be able to unwind for a while.

******

“So Sam, are you going to go spend the night with your fifth girlfriend?” Jack has been silent on the topic the whole ride home. Now he’s back on it.

“No, I’m staying in for tonight,” Sam replies.

“Well, if you want to have her over, you know I won’t mind.” Jack grins at him. “Won’t even come out of my room.”

“Whatever you say. I’d actually prefer that tonight. I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, me too. Long day. I think I’ll be sore in the morning.” And somehow, he manages to not sound suggestive when talking about what they do for work. No, that conversation is casual. Sam possibly having a girlfriend is the best gossip and positively something to poke fun at him about.

“I’m going to bed. Good night Jack,” Sam says and heads off to his room.

Once there, he drops his wallet on the desk and kicks off his shoes. He plops down on his messy bed, thinks for a moment then pulls out his phone.

He’d like to text Five back, but he’s sure she won’t answer. It’s late and they both have class in the morning. So Five is probably asleep.

Sam sits up on his bed and pulls off his shirt, hissing slightly. Things got a little rough today, nothing too serious, but he’s got some nail marks on his skin that are still stinging. Not that he doesn’t have fun with a little rougher play, dealing with it afterwards can be a bit difficult. He’ll probably need to wear sleeves tomorrow.

He settles into bed, pushing thoughts of Five away forcefully, he’s found he has had to do a lot of that lately. Sooner rather than later, he has to find someone else to think about. Problem is, he’s not sure he wants to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is really long, but I hope you enjoy it anyways. The plot thickens, at least I'm trying. Let me know what you think. I picked this title because Pulitzer from Newsies really reminds me of Van Ark.


	6. Rooftop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam doesn’t say anything else, he just leans forward and presses his lips to Five’s.

“I feel like I haven’t eaten ice cream in forever. Like, every time I go to the store I forget, or if I remember, I won’t be able to get home before it melts. You know?” Five says casually to Sam as they sit on the couch.

“I know what you mean. I really like those ice cream cake things. Ice cream outside and cake on the inside. Or… or was it the other way around.”

“Pretty sure it would have to be, other wise it would be a mess to eat.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re probably right,” Sam contemplates for a moment. “No, that sounds much more reasonable.”

“Though as I remember, they were messy anyways,” Five adds.

“Well, pretty sure six-year-old me really managed to make a mess of it. You should hear what I did to my sister’s cake,” Sam says with a sort of sheepish smile.

“Aw, I bet you were a really cute six-year-old.” Five isn’t completely teasing when saying this.

“Not as cute as you are now,” Sam looks highly surprised that he actually said that.

“Oh…” Five blushes, but the fact that she doesn’t immediately run off seems to embolden Sam.

“You know Five, I haven’t been able to stop thinking. About us. I… I mean about us together.” Sam turn to look at her full.

“Yeah?” Five says kind of dumbly, staring back at him.

“And I was thinking, as long as you… wanted to, we could be together again. If you want?” The way he hesitated, it wasn’t much like before. More like he was afraid of making a mistake. He probably thought he had more to lose in this.

“I… I might want that,” Five responds at a very long pause. “Too…” Five completes the thought slowly.

“Really?” Sam questions. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” Five says softly.

Sam doesn’t say anything else, he just leans forward and presses his lips to Five’s.

The spike in Five’s heartbeat must have been what woke her up. She sits almost bolt upright.

She almost feels Sam’s hand still on her cheek and her face is flushed with heat.

‘Gotta run. Got to get this out of my head,’ Five thinks feverishly. She jumps out of bed and pulls a set of dirty running clothes out of the hamper. Throwing them on, she quietly as possible gets out of her room and out the door while trying not to wake up Jody.

Outside, in the cool air of some hour late into the night or early in the morning, Five takes off down the sidewalk. She follows a familiar path, comforted by monotony of the trail.

She let’s her mind clear out and runs until her face stops being an obviously red shade from dreaming about Sam.

‘I can’t believe I had a dream about Sam. I thought I was over that.’ Five thinks while jogging under a street lamp. ‘Oh, who am I kidding, I knew I wasn’t.’

Five thinks about him too much, she is well aware of that ever since they first met and… were together. It didn’t help that she saw him a lot now. It was made worse by the fact that she likes him, a lot. In the way that being around makes her happy and he’s good at making her smile, and his eyes…

Oh, Five really doesn’t know how in deep she’s in. But she’s in this pretty deep. Maybe she shouldn’t have let Sam become such a big part of her life… No, she’s glad she can help him. But she already knew she felt something for Sam for a while. She never thought it would become what it is now. Whatever this is.

******

When Five arrive back to the apartment, she’s surprised by seeing Jody sitting on the couch waiting of her.

“Hey. Sorry, I hope I didn’t wake you. I just needed to get some air,” Five explains quickly, but stops in her tracks at the look on Jody’s face. She seems genuinely concerned. “What?” Five questions cautiously.

“You just seem off lately. Seemed a bit troubled. Come to think of it, it’s been since we went to that Bachelorette party.” Jody uncrosses her legs and sets her feet on the floor.

“Oh…” Five feels her face heating again, having just worked really hard to get that night and Sam out of her head. And now she’s right back to remembering all the details.

“Did… Did something happen Five? Did someone hurt you? You can tell me. I’m here for you to talk to.” Jody scoots forward on the couch cushion.

“Jody, well… Okay,” Five stumbles over her words and then takes a seat next to her friend. “In all honestly, it was one of the best nights of my life.” Five chuckles nervously.

“Oh?” Five can tell Jody is bubbling over with either excitement or questions (maybe both) but gratefully she doesn’t let it spill over. “So why have you been acting so strange?”

‘How to explain this to Jody without making myself even more embarrassed?’

“Well, I… I just sometimes think about what happened at the Shack and how I literally paid for sex and I get all…” She trails off, not sure how to finish the thought.

“I see. I can understand why that would make you uncomfortable. Like, for me, I don’t even remember who I saw that night.”

“Really?” Five questions.

“Yeah. Well, you know how I was. I don’t remember a lot about the entire night. I don't know if I meet with a guy or a girl. Literally, I don't have an idea of a face at all."

"Jody!" Five says with a huffed and shaky laugh. "Do you know if you did anything?" Five asks as the blush spreads up her face.

"I have no clue. I mean, I assume I did... Maybe." Now Jody is blushing.

"Well I guess we've both got something to be embarrassed about," Five says in a low, conspiratory voice.

"Well, I hardly think it's anything to be embarrassed about." The blush on Jody's face seems to suggest the opposite. "People can have sex to just enjoy it now-a-days.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Five mumbles in agreement.

“Anyways, it’s late. We should get back to bed,” Jody offers.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up Jody.”

“Five, don’t worry about it, I was concerned about you. But I’m glad we got to talk.” Jody reaches in for a hug and Five reciprocates.

“Me too,” Five agrees.

******

When Sam arrives at the track, he looks along it, seeing a few other runners running alone, in pairs, and other small groups. It isn’t difficult for him to spot Five, running alone on the track. He waits up in the stands, knowing Five will circle around soon and see him.

A few other runners look at him curiously as they pass, but in not too long Five comes around and spots him. She gives him a small wave and finishes her run near him.

Sam climbs down to the track and meets Five with a smile.

“Hey, I brought snacks and the drinks you requested,” He says grandly. He makes a valiant attempt to not let his face change when he notices the way Five looks right now.

“Perfect! We can find a nice place to hideaway for the rest of the day then. Let me go rinse off and change. I’ll be right back.” With that, Five trots off towards a door that must lead to a locker room.

He tries not to stare after her too intently. But it doesn’t feel like he succeeds. He decides to lean again a wall while waiting, thinks twice, then turns around his backpack to pull out the set of flashcards he made while at work. 

‘Couldn’t keep taking her cards with me all the time. I’m sure she needs them.’ Sam flips through the cards before Five calls out to him.

“I’m ready to go if you are.” Five looks at the cards in his hands, smiling slightly.

“Yeah, let’s go.” As he starts to follow Five, he see a familiar face. “Simon?”

“Sam! Good to see you! And Five…” He seems slightly confused. Then he shakes it off. “Want to go for a couple of laps?” The way he laughs and keeps running gives the impression that he thinks he just made an incredible joke.

Sam is left confused, but not too terribly. It’s not totally impossible that Simon actually goes to school, but it for some reason never crossed his mind. For all he knew, Simon just sprang into existence specifically for work in the Shack. It wasn't unbelievable. He glances at Five to see her looking totally baffled.

Five looks over at Sam, points towards Simon, and clicks her tongue.

“How do you know Simon?” She questions.

“You know him?” Sam asks in return.

“Yeah I-” “Well we-“ They start to explain at the same time, stopping themselves and then waiting for the other.

“You first,” Sam says at last.

“I’ve been running with Simon on the track team since I started going to school here. How do you know him?”

‘Oh, that was definitely not the first thing that came to mind…’ Sam regrets those thoughts, but can’t help them. He’s only seen Simon in one setting, at the Shack.

“Well we…” He pauses when he realizes what he’s about to say. “We work together,” He admits.

Five takes a second to process this, and he watches her expression change when the realization dawns.

“Oh… Oh!” She covers her face with her hands. “Oh, I did not need to know that about him. I did not need to know that about my team mate.” She glances towards Simon is running on the track between her fingers. “You know what the worst part is? I’m not even really surprised.”

Sam tries hard not to let what Five says bother him. It’s obvious what Five thinks about what he does. It shouldn’t make him feel as bad as it does.

“Sam?” Five asks, looking at him like she’s already said this.

“What? Sorry, I was just…” He trails off, unable to explain why he wasn’t paying attention.

“Something wrong?” Five questions further.

“Nah, I guess I was just thinking about how weird it is that we both know Simon.”

“Yeah, that is strange,” Five says slowly. “You ready to head out?”

“Let’s do it.”

******

They head off toward the campus library to find a place to study. When they arrive, the library is packed full, almost all the tables full of students with too much coffee on board.

“Why are there so many people here?” Sam asks.

“Must be some project or test coming up. And we can’t go upstairs, it’s quiet up there, so we can't talk,” Five says at a mumble.

“Should we go to Mullins?” Sam asks.

“It’s a bit far away… Why don’t we just go to my apartment? It’s about a block away.”

“Your place?” Sam's voice is border-line eager and he clears his throat as if that can conceal it.

“Well, yeah. Why not?” Five’s back is towards him as she tries to peak over people’s heads for any place still free in the library.

“I mean… no reason.” He puts his hands in his pocket and attempts to appear casual when Five turns towards him again.

“It’ll be quieter and we can talk without worrying about disturbing anyone else,” Five explains.

“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Sam agrees.

******

So Five and Sam start out, walking off campus and just down the block until Five points out her apartment block and leads the way to the door.

Sam didn’t really have any expectation as to what Five’s place would look like. But a clean, simple living room seems like a fit.

“I’ll get some snacks ready, make yourself comfortable.” Five sets her bag on the couch as she passes it towards the kitchen.

Sam takes another glance around the room and crosses the floor and takes a seat on the couch. He starts to take his stuff out of his bag and sets it on the coffee table.

Five moves around the kitchen, opening the fridge and cabinets. Sam grabs the case of drinks, and decides he should put some in the refrigerator so they stay cold.

When he walks into the kitchen, Five is walking out and Sam nearly crash into each other. Luckily, Five has great reflexes and jumps backwards to avoid the collision.

“Sorry,” Sam stares at her. “I just wanted to put these in a cold place so you can enjoy them better.”

“Oh, yeah. Good right ahead. Just find a spot in there,” Five replies and edges past him in the narrow space. There’s not a lot of room to maneuver so Five does a bit of brushing by him. Sam is let in the kitchen staring after her.

He shakes his head and opens the fridge and sets the drinks inside. After closing it, he stands for a moment thinking.

‘Keep it together Sam. You can sit close to Five alone without doing anything regrettable. Think about what she said about what you want to do for work. She doesn’t want to be with you again.’ He lets out a shaky breath but that thinking doesn’t really work the way he wants it to. He feels even worse about himself.

Five is sitting on the couch with her feet tucked under herself when Sam comes back into the living room. She looks up at him and smiles.

“So, we’ve got to start on the next chapter. You ready?”

“Yeah, I am.”

Five and Sam work over math for a while and Sam finds himself loosening up. It’s easy to do around Five. Though that ends when he reaches across the table for a snack Five set out but Five’s hand darts out and grabs his wrist.

He freezes up and slowly turns his head to look at Five. Her concerned stare is focused on his arm.

She pulls his hand back to her and pushes up his sleeve slightly.

“Sam? Where’d you get all these scratches?” Five questions.

“Oh, uh… I got them at work…” Sam says hesitantly.

“Did you put something on them? They look really red.” Five says as though the answer doesn’t bother her at all.

“I did the other night. But some of them are hard to reach,” He explains carefully.

“Well, I have plenty of antibiotics on hand. Runners get scratches like this all the time and know how to deal with them. Here, I’ll grab some.” Five jumps up off the couch before Sam even begins to formulate any reasonable protest. He shouldn’t have a reason to protest.

Five comes back into the room holding a tube.

“Thanks Five,” Sam holds out his hand. Five gives him a confused look.

“I thought you said you could reach some of them. Do you need help?” Five asks.

“Well, some of them are… on my back.” As he expected, Five blushes. Clearing her throat, she straightens her spine.

“I don’t mind helping,” Five says, looking at the ground.

“Okay,” Sam replies, eyes wide but kind of far away.

“Okay, so take your shirt off so I can put this on.”

“What?” Sam blinks at her.

“Look, I’ve seen more of you Sam. Just do it so we can get this done. I want to help but don’t make it weird.”

“Egh,” Sam makes a sound that doesn’t really mean anything but then complies as Five asks.

Five tried hard not to look at what was just uncovered but doesn’t completely succeed before averting her eyes.

‘Yep, still has that tattoo and that piercing…’ Five think while looking at something else in the apartment. What it is doesn’t matter as long as it’s not Sam’s torso.

Steeling herself, she sits down behind him with the tube of antibiotics ointment.

‘Nothing to it. I’ve done more to Simon after a run in Scoobs park.’

The scratches are red and angry, clearly in need of some treatment.

Sam flinches slightly when Five gently touches him with some of the ointment on her fingers.

“Sorry, it’s a little cold,” Sam excuses lamely.

“Yeah…” Five says simply, not able to call him on the lie or think of something else to say. She knows it’s not cold but is just as uncomfortable as Sam is.

His shoulders remain tense as Five efficiently applies antibiotics to the scratch marks.

“Jeez, I know it feels good but do they really have to hurt you?” Five mumbles without meaning to.

Sam tenses up even more, if that was at all possible. Five hasn’t said anything about their… erm… past relations, at all really. I mean, he’s confident in his abilities. But what he had with Five feels like a completely different experience then what they have now. He could almost be fooled into think that Five didn’t think about it. Except for this comment.

“Uh… I mean, some people are…” Sam realizes Five’s hand has paused on his back.

As soon as Five realizes what she’s doing, she quickly withdraws as if burned. Her face is feeling really hot in any case.

“Enthusiasm,” Sam finishes in a drawn out voice, illogically.

“Well, don’t they ever think about, you know, after the fact? You’re a person with a life after all.”

“It’s not really that much of a problem…” Sam mumbles.

“Really? You’re wearing long sleeves when it’s plenty warm out. And I bet this stings when you shower.”

“Yeah, how… how would you know that?” Sam says with forced casualness.

“I’ve gotten scratches like this plenty of times.”

‘Uh… what?’ Sam thinks, unsure what to say.

“All runners do,” Five continues. “Well all of us who have secret trail running races at night,” Five says lightly, as if she didn’t even realize what Sam thought she meant. “Don’t tell anyone.”

“Won’t tell a soul,” Sam agrees.

“Alright. That will do it. You can put your shirt back on.”

“Thanks Five. That feels better.”

“No problem. So, back to studying?”

‘How can I study after that?’ Sam thinks to himself.

“Sure,” He says slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the fake out, if that bothered you. This chapter's find of slow, but I hope you like it anyways!


	7. King of New York

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Did you give my roommate your cup off coffee?" He asks.  
> "He seemed like he needed it," Five responds.  
> "Don't you need coffee?"  
> "Not really."  
> "I envy you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's another chapter because I got excited to write this and I should have been doing other things. Hope you enjoy!

A couple of weekends pass and Sam’s nerves are practically shot. The next test in Van Ark’s class is coming up and Five has been studying with him almost nonstop. He has never studied so hard in his life. He actually thought about math while at work, when he probably should have been more focused on work, but he couldn’t help it.

Sam thought he felt more prepared, but then again he knew he was not the best student. The fact that Five seemed to hold confidence in him though, meant more than the world to him.

He was awake really early the day of the test, he’d agreed to walked with Five to class who claimed a bit of a walk would calm him down. Sam isn’t entirely sure about that.

Pacing back and forth in his room, sporadically going over the notes on his desk, apparently he was unable to hear the door and Jack did.

Five knocks at the door to the apartment Sam told her about and waits. When a barefoot man with ruffled red hair answers the door, Five is almost convinced she has the wrong apartment.

He glares at her for a moment.

“You’re here for Sam?” He asks.

“Um… Yes?” Five says cautiously.

“He’s been up for like three hours pacing around. Do something about it please.” He then steps out of the doorway.

Five stands confused for a moment then walks inside. With a smile, she hands a coffee cup from her tray over.

The young man looks at the steaming cup drowsily and then takes it.

“I like you. You can come over any time,” He says and then wonders off.

Five glances around and hears muttered words coming from another room.

“Sam?” Five calls.

“Five? You’re here? Quick, remind me how to calculate a wave function collapse. No, amplitude is where the…”

“Sam, take a breath,” Five interrupts.

Sam intakes in a shaky breath.

"Now take a drink of this." Five hands him the coffee cup.

Sam takes a drink with even really thinking about it. The coffee is still hot, but luckily not scalding.

He then looks at Five, waiting for the next command.

"You okay?" Five asks.

"I... think so..." Sam says warily.

"Good. You'll be fine Sam. Okay?"

"I don't think I'm ready yet..." Sam mumbles.

"If you're not ready yet, you aren't going to be ready with two hours before the test." When Sam pales, Five backtracks. "You've spent a lot of time studying diligently. You're going to do fine."

"You really think so?" Sam asks.

"Of course I do Sam." Five smiles at him and it makes a majority of Sam's stress melt in an instant. It makes him melt too.

"Well, um... Thanks."

"So, let's take a walk. Relax you a little bit." Five turns around towards the door and Sam follows.

When Sam looks around the living room, he notices Jack on the couch sipping from a cup of coffee like his. Jack raises the cup in a toast and grins.

Outside the apartment door, Sam turns to Five.

"Did you give my roommate your cup off coffee?" He asks.

Five shrugs.

"He seemed like he needed it," Five responds.

"Don't you need coffee?"

"Not really."

"I envy you," Sam says deadpan.

"Come on then, let's get moving, get some fresh air." Five's enthusiasm is contagious enough to make Sam seriously excited to be out. Or maybe it's just the prospect of being with Five.

******

Sam follows next to Five who seems to have a path figured out, though the way she takes them seems effortlessly followed.

Five distracts Sam from his thoughts of the exam coming up with light conversation, talking about TV shows they both liked as kids. Sam's surprised by how well it works. His heart rate even decreases despite the coffee

But too soon the time comes for the test, he realizes this as they come up to the building as see the real engineering students standing about looking nervous and over worked.

Sam pales slight and takes an involuntary step backwards.

"Hey Sam?" Five says carefully. "What are you doing?"

"I... I'm really not sure if I'm ready for this," Sam mumbles, looking down.

"Hey, look at me," Five says softly.

Sam glances up from under his hair.

"You have studied and made more progress than I'm sure anyone else in this class has. And that's worth something. It'll show."

"You think so?" Sam asks.

"Definitely." Five surprises Sam by touching him under his chin and forcing his face up. "But you can't stress yourself out. You'll be better if you believe that you are ready and go in there feeling that way. And I, for one, know you are going to see that you've improved." She smiles at him with those bright eyes he thinks are so beautiful. It feels so calming.

"Okay, okay. You're right. I need to keep calm."

"No amount of stress is going to help." Five lets go of his chin and lets her hand fall to her side.

Sam lets out a breath.

Suddenly, a large group of students starts inside and Sam's heart leaps into his throat.

"You want to sit together?" Five asks suddenly. "Would that help?"

"Uh, I mean... We don't usually sit together."

"Yeah, and I don't know exactly why we don't. But we can definitely sit together today. I think it will help, maybe?" She says it like a question.

"Yeah, yeah I think. I think we can do that." It doesn't make much sense, but Sam thinks Five understands him.

"You've got this man," Five tries to reassure further.

"Okay."

"So lets head inside and rock this thing."

"I appreciate the confidence but..."

"No buts. Confidence Sam. Have it."

"I'll try Five," He mumbles.

"That's all I'm asking for Sam."

******

If he could be pacing, Sam definitely would be. However feels like he might actually understand what he's looking at but he almost freezes up in fear that he has everything wrong. But then he remembers that Five is right next to him. And he can't risk letting down Five. She's put so much time into him.

He turns his focus to the test determined to do his best on this.

******

After the test, Five sits with Sam outside on a bench, knowing he needs a moment of quiet. She lets him think for a time.

Sam breathes out a soft sigh, but continues staring at his thumbs.

"Wanna go get some ice cream?" Five says in his direction.

"What? Really?" Sam questions.

"Yeah... Why is that weird?" Five finally gets him to look up at him. 

'And a smile, that's a good start.' Five smiles back.

"Aren't you like... a health nut or something?" Sam asks.

"Oh, so a runner can't enjoy ice cream every once in a while. Who are you to say what I shouldn't be eating?" Five says with mock indignation.

"Okay, okay. If you insist on getting ice cream..." Sam is grinning wide now.

"Oh, I insist. My treat." Five stands and offers a hand without thinking. But it's too late to retract it.

Sam takes her hand with the complete intension of letting go as soon as he's standing. It doesn't feel like he let go fast enough in his mind. Or he yanked his hand back too fast... He's not sure. Five doesn't seem to react negatively anyways.

"If you're buying, how can I say no?" He jokes.

"Well, I've been getting you to bring me food and drink, only fair to return to favor."

"You've done ton for me, it's really the least I can do," Sam replies.

"Hm, maybe," Five teases and bumps her shoulder into Sam's. "But you've put in the work in too. I wouldn't have much faith in you if you didn't, but you really have impressed me."

"Thanks Five," He mumbles, blushing slightly.

"At this point, I think we both have earned a frozen treat."

******

Instead of going to a parlor, they decide to just go to a grocery store so they can get sundaes of their own design when the figure out the both have interesting topping choices they probably won't get at any ice cream shop. So they wonder through the store, choosing toppings and almost forgetting actual ice cream on the way out.

Back in Five's apartment, because they couldn't concoct and eat their creations in the park, they sit at the kitchen table with ridiculously stacked bowls.

"I can't believe you eat that on your ice cream Sam," Five laughs.

"Oh, don't even start Five. You crumbled like three ice cream cones on top of yours."

"It's a better ratio of ice cream to cone," Five defends. "And you can have mountains more ice cream."

"You could just do, like, graham cracker or something."

"It's not the same thing," Five gives the impression that she's had the discussion before.

"Okay, okay. Fair enough," He says in a placating manner.

Five just smiles at him and digs into her ice cream.

"So Five?" Sam starts after a comfortable silence.

"Yeah?" It's in that moment, Sam realizes he doesn't he doesn't actually have anything to say.

"Uh..." He stumbles. "You got any good movies on that shelf?" He points his spoon at the bookshelf covered with books, movies and CDs.

Five shrugs.

"You tell me," She says with a small grin.

"Okay," Sam sticks his spoon in his mouth and goes to look at the selection, ignoring the freeze brain as it begins to set in.

"Mm! Mm!" He says while pointing at a DVD.

"Can't understand you there, Sam," Five comments plainly.

He pulls the spoon from his mouth. 

"You have all these stop motion movies. I love these!"

"Jody brought most of them. And I have a habit of just picking them up when I find interesting ones."

"Picking them up?" Sam questions.

"You know. From garage sales, resale stores, stuff like that."

"Ah," Sam says, then turns his attention back to the movies. "Oh, oh. And you have musicals! And..."

"Are you going to pick a movie or just comment on all of the ones I have?" Five says from the table.

"Yeah, I'll pick one. But you have some really good CDs too Five."

"Sam, I know. You don't have to tell me. Just tell me what you want to watch."

"Right, right. It's just nice to meet someone of distinguished taste."

"I'd hardly call my 'Rock the SAT' CD distinguished."

"Oh, yeah! I saw that. What is that for?"

"It's a vocab practice. Puts vocabulary words into the song. Really lame, but it can be catchy."

"Sounds fun," He says with what sounds like sincerity.

"Well, I'm sure that's not what you want to be listening to tonight. We're celebrating."

"Some other time. How about this one?" He picks out a movie and turns it towards Five.

"Have at it maestro," Five gestures vaguely with the spoon towards the TV.

Sam eagerly, and without much issues puts the movie into the DVD play and gets it playing.

"This is a good one," He says while taking a seat at the table with his ice cream once again.

"Nice choice," Five comments, glad to see him unwind a little bit.

"Well, helps that there's a good few options."

Five just smiles, propping her chin up in her hand to watch the movie. Not a bad night at all.

******

Sam catches the bus back towards home. The night with Five was great, and not in the normal ways he has good nights with girls. It was pleasant, and relaxing, and felt right in all the right ways. He could practically forget about the test, until just now.

Van Ark is always quick to grade and get results back. He might get it tomorrow, the day after the latest. Sam's heart sinks just thinking about it. But, like Five said, he's never studied this hard in his life. So hopefully it will end up paying off. No point worrying about it now, he's already taken the test and there's no changing it. 

When Sam arrives home, Jack is on the couch making out heavily with a guy.

"Heyo Sam," Jack breaks away from his date casually. "Where you been so late?"

"Watching a movie at Five's," Sam answers.

"The girl with the coffee this morning?" Jack questions. "Oh! And your fifth lover!"

"Yes," Sam says simply.

"And you spent all day with her 'watching movies'. Good for you Sammy." Jack puts dramatic air quotes in just the right place to get Sam frustrated.

"We were really just watching movies, it's... You know what, never mind. You won't listen to me anyways." Sam starts to his room.

"Love you Sam!" Jack calls as Sam closes his door.

Sam rolls his eyes and dumps his bag on the floor.

As he collapses on his bed, he knows he's going to have a difficult time sleeping. Not just because he's worried about the test. He can't stop thinking about Five. She's one of the best people he knows. And she makes him feel like the best person she knows. Even considering... Well, what he does. Though that's probably the exact reason he feels like he doesn't deserve what they have.

******

"Five!" Sam yells excitedly as soon as he sees her coming towards class.

He runs at her, holding his phone out in front of him.

"You're not going to believe this! I got a B. I... I can't believe this. I haven't done this well on any of my engineering classes ever. This... This is incredible!"

Five smiles as Sam practically skips towards him.

"I'm happy for..." Five is cut off abruptly.

Sam realizes why when he realizes he's kissing Five.

Five's shocked for a long moment but feels herself start to relax into him.

Sam jumps back, covering his mouth.

"Oh my god. I'm so sorry. I..."

"Sam..."

"I was excited. I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry," He's hardly understandable with his hand covering his mouth.

"Sam," Five starts again.

"I can't believe I just-"

Five cuts him off abruptly.

"Sam, it's okay."

"What?" He asks.

"It's alright. Just chill out," Five says, the slightest tremble in her voice.

"Are... are you sure?"

"Yeah, as long as you get a hold of yourself man."

"Okay, okay," Sam says, breathing out raggedly. "We do not have to talk about that."

"That's... fine," Five mumbles, trying not to think too hard about the kiss. 

'Yeah, he's definitely still a good kisser,' She thinks, failing to not think about the kiss.

"It's in the past," Sam holds his hands out as if washing them clean.

"Good," Five concludes.

"Finito," Sam mumbles.

A long, awkward silence follows as both of them obviously attempt to hide the fact that they are blushing.

"But yeah, congrats to you on that test Sam," Five finally manages to say.

"Huh? Oh, yeah! It's all thanks to you, really."

"You put the work in," Five returns.

"Well, I could never have done it without you. We should totally celebrate."

"Yeah, gotta reward a job well done."

"Tonight? Dinner and a movie? I've been itching to go see that new one in theaters."

"Oh, uh..." Five starts. "I've actually got plans tonight with my friends. It's going to have to be another night."

"Oh, that's fine..."

"You sure?" Five questions.

"Oh, of course. No, you already had this planned so do it. I'll go out with Jack. We'll have some fun."

"Your roommate? He seems like a fun guy."

"We've got some places we like to hit," Sam says casually.

"Then that's good. You've earned it."

"Thanks Five."

"So let's head to class and then get to this weekend."

"Oh hell yeah!"

******

"Come on, Sam. You need to loosen up. You're normally tons more fun than this," Jack says, patting Sam on the back.

"I'm not feeling like going on a full bender tonight," Sam replies,

"Ah Sam! Come ooooon!" Jack whines, squeezing Sam's shoulders and dramatically yanking Sam around.

'I can't keep obsessing over Five!' Sam decides.

"I... Yeah, you know what, I do want to have some fun. I'm gonna need that!" He points at Jack's drink.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Jack pumps his fists.

******

The night becomes a comfortable blur and Sam misses plenty of bits and pieces of it. As he's waking up, he starts to remember lots of alcohol, drunk texting someone, and possibly deleting said texts.

'That's going to be fun to figure out,' He decides, eyes still tightly shut against the light and impending headache.

Finally, he decides he needs to face the morning and open his eyes.

He finds an unfamiliar bedding and an unfamiliar wall.

'Oh great, another one of those "Hey, we must have had sex last night but I don't remember it. What's you name again?" moments. Those are the worst.'

A quiet sound of someone moving about in in the other room catches his attention. He attempts to rifle through his thoughts, looking for any clues about who's bed he's in. He doesn't remember anything though.

'Time to figure this out.' He forces himself into a sitting position. The quiet squeak on the bed springs screams through his suddenly pounding head.

The sound in the other room stops, possibly water being turned off, catches his attention.

Sam squints out the door, blinking against the lights on in the hallway.

A figure appears silhouetted in the light.

"Good morning, Sam."

Sam nearly falls out of bed onto the floor.

"Five?!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's going to happen next? You know, I'm not even 100% sure (though I pretty much know). I appreciate all the wonderful comments I've been getting and this is the reward (But I was also really excited!) I really am starting to run out of chapter titles from Newsies, so I hope no one minds/notices if the theme changes at a point in the near future.


	8. High Times, Hard times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i thnk im gona thrwo up on teh dance folor
> 
> Sam, don't throw up on the floor. Go to the bathroom.
> 
> k

"Come on Five. You need to make your move," Maxine says in 'the voiceTM'.

"I'm thinking." Five replies, staring down at the board. "I'll use my move to step back and..." Five trails off when her phone buzzes. "Uh... Hang on."

She takes her phone out of her pocket and checks it.

five im having a greta night are you!

? Five starts, Sam, you okay? Five types back.

"Sorry. I step back and swing my axe at the attacker," Five finishes.

"Okay, roll to hit," Max says as Five already has the dice in hand.

"Good roll Five!" Maxine exclaims. "You cut right through the shadow beast with one swing."

"That's my Five," Sara says with a grin.

"Nice work Five... I mean... What is your name again?" Jody asks.

"It's..." Five's phone rings again. "Hang on."

im drikning tihs its buel!'!?! He sends a picture of very blue drink in a shot glass.

That's nice Sam.

i like bleu but geren is mu fav color

Sam, seriously. Are you okay?

Sam is silent for a while and Five continues playing, checking her phone every couple minutes.

hey! hey

five!

fiiiiiiive!

Sam? Five replies.

did yu know grene was my favrit colr

No I did not Sam.

it is

I'll be sure to remember that. Mine's purple.

realy? thats a nice colr

Really Sam, are you alright?

No answer. Five's eyebrows furl slightly.

Where are you?

"Who are you texting Five?" Jody asks.

"Sam. And he sounds a lot like you when we usually take your phone away on a night out."

"So, ridiculously drunk texting?" Sara asks teasingly poking Jody in the side.

"'Ey, that's not fair. I do not send ridiculous texts."

"No, you usually just lose you phone," Maxine mumbles.

"No I-! Well, that's not the point... Are we playing or not?" Jody blushes.

"Five, how many times have you had to track down Jody's phone in the last three months?" Sara questions.

"Don't answer that Five. I am enacting roommate privilege. 'You have the right to remain silent'." Five laughs at Jody's serious pout.

"That's not how Miranda Right's work Jody. I would know." Maxine adds casually.

"Oh, that's right. Maxine used to be a down right criminal," Sara says pointedly with a sidelong look.

"Careful Sara. It's your turn and the DM might not feel as generous about how you roll."

i am at the brun's Sam responds.

You're going to have to run that by me again Sam.

the bar, brunsy brunsy the barsy

'That doesn't really help Sam.' Five rolls her eyes and sighs.

"Does anyone have a clue what Brunsy the bar would mean?" Five asks.

"Oh... Um..." Jody starts agonizing.

"That would probably Brunswick." Sara responds quickly and easily.

"Oh, I know that place. It's huge!" Jody adds.

"Why do you ask Five?" Maxie questions.

"I think Sam might need me to pick him up. He's not making much sense right now."

"That's really nice of you Five," Jody coos.

"Well, I already mother you when you get drunk, so I'm used to it."

Jody crosses her arms and pouts with even more intensity.

"So you and Sam. I wouldn't think you were close enough to have him text you while drunk," Sara notes, while casually rolling a seventeen before proceeding to hack a skeleton in half.

"I guess he might think I'd be one of his only friends who would be sober on a Friday night."

"That's for sure. Only person I know who stays sober like you do," Jody comments.

"He also knew you were coming here I presume?" Sara asks.

"Actually... I don't think I told him what I'd be doing. Just that I have plans. He wanted to celebrate about the exam. He did well. We're going to have to do something else."

"Oh! You should do something fun together!" Jody suggests.

"Jody, you're up!" Maxine steals our attention back to the game.

"Oh, uh... what's going on right now?" Jody questions.

Jack si singng karoki my hert will goon Sam texts Five out of nowhere.

Is he any good? Five asks.

no

Five chuckles.

"Oh, Five. I didn't ever thank you for what you did," Maxine interrupts Five's distracted thoughts.

"Not a problem Max," Five says, not giving anything away in case Maxine wants it to remain private.

"Oh, has Maxine got Five running secret missions?" Jody asks excitedly.

"Yeah, key word, secret," Maxine says casually, not even looking up from her sheet.

"Oh, come on. Five is always privy to all the super-secret missions. I want to do one some day!"

"If you could keep a secret, maybe you'd be able to do secret missions," Sara asserts.

"Well, I just get excited is all..." Judy mumbles.

"Hence why you're not in on these missions," Maxine concludes.

"Fine, fine. That's fair," Jody concedes.

Five just smiles and they go another round in the game.

******

i thnk im gona thrwo up on teh dance folor

Sam, don't throw up on the floor. Go to the bathroom.

k Sam answers and is gone for a while, Five is already mentally preparing to leave.

i therw up in te bahtroom He says after a few moments.

"Okay, I think I gotta go pick up Sam. He's gone and thrown up," Five pushes herself out of her chair. "While I'm gone, don't have my character do anything I wouldn't do."

"Five, you know Maxine. Since you are leaving, your character is going to be possessed to do her bidding!" Jody says with slight paranoia.

"We'll try not to kill you Five," Sara assures passively. The grin on Maxine's lips makes Five a bit worried to leave.

"Please don't let my gauntlets fall into the wrong hands. And if I do die, Jody can have my cloak." With that, Five grabs her bag and heads out.

******

Five took the bus close to Brunswick and walked the rest of the way to the large, two story building that pulsing music was spilling out of it.

'How am I going to find Sam in there?' Five wonders.

"Five!" A voice calls out.

"So not that hard after all," Five mutters to herself. "Hey Sam, you feeling okay?"

"I feel great!" He exclaims, stumbling and slurring almost as badly as he was while texting.

Five catches Sam before he falls headlong into the sidewalk in front of her feet.

"Careful Sam. Wow you're drunk," Five recoils back slightly. 

He smells strongly of alcohol.

"I know. Isn't it great!" Sam grins widely as Five tries to set him upright.

"Sure, if you're into that kind of thing," Five says with a measure of good humor. "Come on, it's time to get out of here."

"Okay, I just gotta tell Jack bye."

"Jack? Your roommate Jack? He's still here?" Five questions.

"Yeah, I think he's asleep behind the bar."

'Oh great, I can't leave someone passed out at a club.'

"Sam, wait," Five grabs Sam by the hand before he can disappear through the busy door. "Don't go running off on me. Just give me a second."

"Okay," Sam settles in, holding Five's hand with a slightly clammy grip as Five pulls out her phone.

'Eugene should be home right now. Maybe he can come over.'

Five dials the number and waits as it rings.

"Hello," The voice answers, sounding distracted already.

"Hey Gene. Are you busy?" Five questions.

"I'm about to start cooking dinner, do you need something?" He answers.

"Yeah, you're close enough to Brunswick to be here in a few minutes?"

"Five!" Eugene mock gasps. "Are you drunk? Do you need me to pick you up?"

"I'm not drunk. My friend Sam is. So's his roommate. I don't want to leave him alone. I can give you the address and you can drop him off at home."

"What about Sam?" Eugene asks casually.

"I'll take care of Sam. Come on Gene, I can't leave Jack here. This red head seems lost in general. I don't want to leave him alone."

"Red... Five, what's Jack's last name?" Eugene asks.

"Ugh... I don't know." Five pulls on Sam's hand. "Sam, focus for a second. What's Jack's last name?"

"Holden," Sam answer, drawing out the 'o' for an excessive amount of time.

"Holden," Five relays to Eugene.

There's a pause on the line as Five waits for Eugene to answer.

"I'll be right there," Eugene says and promptly hangs up.

"Oh... okay..." Five mumbles.

'Didn't think it would be that easy,' She thinks.

"Alright Sam. We're going to hang out here for a moment. How you feeling?"

"Much better after I threw up," Sam says with a big smile.

"Have you had anything to eat tonight? Not sure why I'm asking. If you were this drunk with food in your stomach, I'd be really concerned."

"No, the food here sucks so I didn't eat," Sam confirms.

"Okay, good. Eat this." Five presents a granola bar that Sam was too drunk to see where it came from, or made she just made it appear.

"Five?" He starts at a stage whisper.

"Yes?" She answers.

"Are you magic?" Sam asks.

Five laughs quietly.

"You know what, you won't be remembering this. Yes, of course I'm magic. I practice dark magic and sacrifice living victims which imbues me with the abilities of my shadow lord."

"Wow," Sam whispers.

Five rolls her eyes and smiles slightly.

After a few minutes, Five sees Eugene's car roll up to the front of the bar.

"Hey Five. Is this Sam?" He points to Sam, who is still holding Five's hand.

Five suddenly becomes aware of that fact, and aware that Sam's thumb is brushing against her knuckles gently. She's happy that it's dark enough so that Eugene can't see her blushing.

"Yeah, and he said Jack's asleep behind the bar. You want to go see if you can find him or what?" Five says, fighting back the venom in her voice. Eugene had come all the way out here specifically at her request. And something else... Five wasn't completely sure what other reason he had, but knew there was something.

It takes Eugene a while before he comes back. 

During that time, Sam seems to forget he's attached to Five and tries to wonder off.

Five responds with a gentle squeeze to remind him he's still tether to her. He smiles widely at her each time this happens. Five smiles back gently, turning back to the door, watching for Eugene.

"Gene! Fancy meeting you here!" Jack says in a loud voice as Eugene drags him out.

"You've said that three times now Jack." Eugene has Jack gently by the wrist. He turns toward Five and Sam. "I'll take care of him if you've got Sam. Do you need a ride?"

Five's eyes flit between the two of them, sensing something but deciding not to ask.

"I think we're alright. My apartment is right around the corner."

'And we both don't need to be uncomfortable about our respective drunk buddies,' Five thinks.

"Okay, send me a text when you get home safe," Eugene says, ushering Jack into his car.

"You too!" Five calls back, escorting Sam down the hill, trying to keep him on the sidewalk.

"Hey, hey Five. I think I know what questions I missed on the test."

"Really?" Five asks, looking around to make sure they are safe to cross the street.

"Yeah... Can we go back in time? I'd like to take the test again. I think I can do better."

Five smiles at him.

"If you study, you should be able to do better on the next one."

"Oh, okay. As long as you're still with me."

"I'm here now picking you off the sidewalk when you're pickled. I think I'm making it pretty clear I'm sticking with you, I'd say," Five says back to him and he grins like a madman.

"Really? Five, will you be my best friend?"

Five laughs but then realizes he's gone dead serious in his expression, something that while being incredibly drunk, should be difficult to pull of.

"Of course I'll be your friend Sam. Aren't we friends already?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess we are friends. You are the best friend I've ever had," Sam rambles.

Five pauses, staring at Sam for a moment, searching his face and seeing only sincerity. She smiles warmly. 

"That's sweet of you Sam. Now come on, we're almost home."

******

Five is having trouble keeping an eye on Sam and unlocking the door to the apartment at the same time. 

Fortunately, he's pretty well distracted by the paper flowers on the neighbor's door so it doesn't seem like he's going anywhere fast. 

And man, despite being fall down drunk, taking her eyes off Sam for a moment on the walk over resulted in almost completely losing him. He'd somehow moved around a corner into an alley at a speed Five was not anticipating but then stopped because there was a fence. The door in the fence was open, but it still stopped him, luckily.

"Alright Sam, get in here," Five says, pushing the door open and gesturing Sam inside.

"This isn't my apartment... And where's Jack? He should be where I am..." Sam looks around the living room a bit confused.

"Don't worry Sam, Eugene will take him home. And this is my place, you've been here before."

"Oh yeah. It's very nice." Sam suddenly leans heavily on Five's shoulder.

"Take it easy. Let's get you to bed before you pass out." Five supports his weight on one shoulder and leads him into her room.

After some maneuvering, she lets him drop on to her bed.

"Shoes off, Sam. I don't know where those have been and I don't want them in my bed."

"Okay," Sam agrees, leans off the bed to take his shoes off and nearly falling on his face.

"Easy, there." Five catches him with a hand on his forehead. "Sit up. I'll get them."

"Okay," He says, leaning back and regaining his balance.

Five crouches and unties his sneakers and tugs them off.

"I'm gonna take my shirt off," Sam announces, proceeding to get lost in his shirt with his arms stuck in the air. "Uh..."

"You are a mess man..." Five mumbles and helps him the rest of the way out of the shirt.

"Yeah, but I'm your mess best friend," Sam replies.

"I guess so," Five says with mock reluctance. "I'll get you something to drink and some pain meds if you need them and leave them on the bedside table."

"Okay," Sam says, yawning and snuggling himself under the blankets.

"Good night Sam," Five says, slowly shutting the door, but planning on leaving it open a crack. She's be back in a moment with water.

"Night Five. I love you," Sam mumbles, rolling over.

Five freezes, door halfway through its squeak, hand on the doorknob.

'He definitely did not mean that. Drunk, and responding on instinct," Five justifies and a hundred other excuses run through her head at the same time. It feels like she stands there way too long, hand still holding the door. Like a dear in headlights

"Go- Good night Sam," Five stutters out and turns away from the door, pushing it mostly closed behind her.

Five forces herself to walk away and settles herself on to the couch.

'Of course he didn't mean to say that. And I definitely don't get butterflies from him saying that. No way.'

Five tries to put it out of her mind and go to sleep, but it takes a little while to settle her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if Sam's texting is hard to read, it was meant to be. Thanks to ijustcantwaittobeme for being my beta, you really helped me out. Hope you enjoy this.


	9. The Bottom Line (Reprise)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I woke up at a former client's house and I don't think we even had sex. You?"  
> "Uh... well, same I guess," Sam answers, scratching at the back of his head.

Sam sits awkwardly at Five's breakfast bar with a warm cup of coffee between his hands. He's tried to do something about his hair earlier, but was still sticking up at odd angles like typical 'bedroom head'. He's still trying to remember something... anything that happened last night. It's all pretty blank after about drink six at Brunswick.

He glances up at Five as she moves around the kitchen, making eggs for breakfast. She hasn't let anything on about what might have happened. After laughing at him softly, she invited him into the kitchen, pressed a cup of coffee into his hand, and said she'd make him something for breakfast. That's about all she's said.

Sam turns around in his seat when a door opens behind him.

Another girl walks out of a room, still in her pajama with a messy ponytail. She stretches her arms above her head and yawns.

Sam yawns too and when he opens his eyes again the girl is right in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Jody!" She says brightly.

"Hey, I'm Sam," Sam replies, slightly subdued.

'This feels oddly like a walk of shame... Even those I'm not walking anywhere...'

"I know. Five told me you'd be here this morning. Have a fun night, did ya?" She slides into the seat across from him.

"Well, I... yeah. But I think I'm never going to drink again with this headache I've got."

"Yeah, I know that feeling. Listen to Five, she know the best ways to help with a hang over. Believe me."

"I have a great cure with hot sauce, egg shells, and mint. And a dash of calamari," Five says with a straight face.

"The calamari is the most important part," Jody pipes in.

"Um, okay..."

"I'm joking of course. It's octopus, not calamari." Five finishes on what ever she's cooking and turns around with two plates of eggs and sausage.

"But we can start by eating a good breakfast and drink more water than you can take. I'll get brewing my magical anti-hangover cure."

Sam gratefully takes the plate of eggs from Five.

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast?" He asks.

"Already did, I've been up for a while," Five explains.

"Oh, okay," Sam says rather sheepishly as he realizes what time it is. He slept in pretty late.

"I hope you enjoyed the celebration cause it's right back to work starting tomorrow."

"Oh, yes!" Sam realizes how excited he sounds and laughs.

"Glad you're enthusiastic," Five tosses over her shoulder.

"Well, it worked very well last time. Studying with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Five smiles back at him

"Aw! That's so sweet!" Sam starts when Jody speaks, he almost forgot she was there.

"Five's a great motivator," He feels compelled to further explain.

"Definitely! Five can make me get up and want to clean the house and run and finish my homework all before my ten o'clock class."

"You make me sound like a task master," Five comments.

"I mean in a good way of course!" Jody defends.

"It's okay, I know I'm a bit of a tyrant with some things..." Five says lightly.

Sam and Jody start talking at the same time, trying to say no at the same time.

"Whoa, you guys don't take well to self-depreciating humor," Five says in surprise.

"Not generally, no," Jody answers back.

Sam is digging happily into his eggs. Either he's way too hungry or Five's the most amazing chef in the world.

"So, what's the plan for today?" Sam asks.

Five looks slightly surprised, pleasantly.

"Well, you're welcome to stay here and we can study," Five offers.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Oh! We could totally bake some cookies and watch a movie!" Jody chimes in brightly.

"Studying Jody, not a fun day..." Five looks contemplative for a moment then continues. "We should make cookies though."

"Yes! I'll go grab some eggs from the store. You used the last of them on breakfast. I'll be right back!" Jody grabs her bag and runs out the door.

"She seems nice," Sam says softly after she closes the door.

"She's pretty great. Fun to be around, tells the best scary stories."

"Her? Scary stories?" Sam questions.

"Don't underestimate a Jody campfire story," Five says dangerously.

Sam can't really tell if she's joking or not. She seems serious... But he's been fooled before.

"Anyways, I hope you didn't take your bag to the bar with you last night, cause if you did, it's a lost cause."

"I didn't, don't worry. I know how I can get when going out."

"Good, so we can start working with the notes I've got. I've got plenty of scratch paper."

"Great!" Sam again surprises himself with his enthusiasm again.

"Wanna set up at the couch or the table?" Five questions.

"Whatever you'd like," Sam says, picking up his plate and moving around to the sink. Five leans against the counter and lets him pass. The casual intimacy nearly takes his breath away. Five smiles at him softly and he gulps and quickly pushes himself to the sink.

"Let's get working then," Sam says hastily.

******

Sam has a nice day with Five and her roommate. He spends most of the day studying with Five. They do take a break to bake some cookies, crowding together in the kitchen with chocolate chips and flour. Five and Jody end up smearing dough on each other's noses at one point, laughing hysterically at some inside joke. It's a sweet, candid moment to be privy to.

Later on the couch again, Five is yawning and Sam glances at her.

"I've probably taken up too much of your time at this point..." He says softly.

"Never Sam," Five says quickly and genuinely. It sort of takes Sam by surprise.

"Yes I have. I think I better take my leave."

"Okay Sam. I'm sure you've got better things to do," Five says.

"Not really, couldn't be doing anything much better than be with you... Studying..." He finishes quickly. Nice save. "But I'll leave. I'm taking some of these cookies though."

"Be my guest, you helped make them."

"Thanks!" Sam takes a handful. "I'll head home. And thanks for um... picking me up last night."

"No problem Sam. I'm glad you texted me. It was safer that way." She stretches casually on the couch and Sam catches himself blushing.

"Yeah... Well, see you tomorrow?"

"Sure, see you in class," Five remarks.

"Uh, bye Five," He says lamely and starts out the door.

He knows the way home pretty easily, he's been to Five's already. So once he's in the right part of town, he gets home on autopilot, so he ends up thinking.

He's pretty certain that nothing happened between them, sex wise. Five was way too casual for that. I mean, last time Five and him slept together (which felt like a life time ago) wow was Five flustered about it. It was so unbelievably cute. So he's pretty sure he'd be able to tell if that was the case, unless Five has a better poker face this time around.

He sighs and starts up his stairs and arrives at his door. He reaches for the spare key under the mat but finds it missing.

Pushing the door open, he finds Jack sitting at the table chewing on a block of dry noodles.

"Hey," Jack says causally, crunching down on the block.

"Hey, where have you been?" Sam asks.

"I woke up at a former client's house and I don't think we even had sex. You?"

"Uh... well, same I guess," Sam answers, scratching at the back of his head.

"Huh, weird..." Jack responds, barely looking up.

"Very," Sam mumbles. He heads to his room to take a shower and change his clothes.

Once he's cleaned up, he takes a seat at his desk and works a bit on some class work, but, as usual, keeps thinking about Five. Suddenly, something occurs to him. Five got texts from him. He grabs his phone a scrolls through his texts. Sure enough, whatever texts he sent to Five, he deleted.

"What did I say to you Five?"

******

"Morning Five!" Sam says brightly and sets a muffin on the desk in front of Five.

Five looks up at him, a bit confused but gratefully takes the treat.

"What's this about?" Five asks, unwrapping the paper from the muffin.

"A thank you, obviously. For the best buddy a guy could ask for," He says with exaggerated jovialness, taking a page from Jack's book.

"Well, thanks. Looks good." Five takes a bite and looks very content. "Mm," Five hums and eats happily.

Sam slides into his seat next to her and starts on his own muffin.

"Sleep well?" Five questions.

"Oh yeah, back in my own bed. Not... uh well..." Sam trails off.

Five glances at him from the corner of her eye, blush coloring her cheeks.

"Well, yeah. Was your roommate okay?"

"Oh yeah, he made it home alright."

"I sure hope so. I called a friend to pick him up. If he didn't make it home, I would have words for him."

"Your friend? Picked him up? Friend?"

Uh... yes?" Five says cautiously.

"Weird, I... Nothing. Never mind, forget I said anything."

"Oh... Kay?" Five says slowly.

"It's just, odd that you have a friend and I think Jack knew him..."

"Oh, that is weird. Small world," Five says casually, not seeming to notice that Sam is shifting nervously.

"It sure is." 

Not long after this conversation, Van Ark begins the glass.

After having an hour's worth of education shoved at them, Five and Sam take a moment to pack up.

"Five," The pair look up as the professor speaks up. "May I have a word with you in my office," Van Ark say smoothly.

"Um..." Five hesitates for a moment. "Of course professor." Five slings her bag onto her shoulder. "I'll meet you at the library Sam," Five says back to Sam.

"Yeah, sure. I'll get us seats." Sam pulls on his own bag. "See you there."

"Be there soon," Five promises.

"What can I do for you professor?" Five turns towards him.

He stares at her for a long moment.

"I'd prefer to speak in my office."

"Alright, that's okay," Five says a little nervously, thinking she might be in trouble.

Five follows the professor to his office. The man doesn't say anything as Five walks behind him.

When they arrive at the office, Van Ark uses his key card to unlock the door. He let's Five into the semi-familiar lab, nearly blinding white and very steel. It's kind of intimidating without a mission to do.

Van Ark leads Five silently to his office, setting down his brief case and taking a seat on his side of the desk.

Five eases into the chair across from him, holding her bag on her lap.

"So, uh, what can I do for you Professor?" Five questions.

"I know you think you're very clever with little secret messages and sneaking around."

Five keeps her face neutral, but her mind is racing. 'He saw that?'

"And now, my best research assistant is distracted by some person or another and it's a really damper to my work."

"Well, uh... not sure what you want me to do about something like that," Five says cautiously.

"I want you to break up Paula and this other," He says.

Five, taken aback, stares at him for a long moment. Then a fire lights in her eyes.

"Why would I do that?" Her eyes narrow threateningly.

"Because otherwise, I'll fail your friend Sam," He says smoothly.

"You.. you can't do that!" Five sputters in shock. "You can't fail him if he earns the grade!"

"Who would know he did? I have the records. It'd be my word again yours and his. And my colleagues know the boy. They'd believe it without question."

"But... I..." Five's eyes fade out as she's obviously thinking. "I... I have to go." Five gathers her bag and turns out of the room.

With quick steps, Five exits the lap, mind racing.

'He can't do that...' Five's eyes narrow, and not against the brightness of the sun outside. 'I won't let him.'

******

Five doesn't seem one hundred percent here, Sam notes as they are studying in the library. Sure, she's answering his questions well, but her mind seems other wise occupied.

"Five, I'm curious. Did you get the nickname Five from your running number or was it your nickname before the number."

"Mm-hm. Yeah." Five mumbles in response.

"Oh, okay. So did I ever tell you about the time I wrangled a dragon and used it to finish my science project?"

Five looks at him slightly incredulously, and Sam flushes under the sudden, right in his face when looking up at him from so close.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you weren't 1istening. I was testing it..."

"I'm sorry. I guess my mind's somewhere else," Five mumbles.

"Is... something wrong Five?" Sam questions.

Five gives him a troubled look, biting her lip.

"I... I have to tell you something Sam."

His heart sinks immediately.

'Here it come. Whatever it is.' His thoughts falter. 'What is it?"

"Sam, there's a long story behind this but to make it short, Van Ark gave me this crazy, scary alternative. Either to break up my friend Maxine and one of his lab assistants that she's dating. Or he said he'd fail you in his class."

"Oh," Sam mutters, taken aback. Five stares at him while he thinks for a long moment. "Well, you can't break them up."

"Sam, I don't know if you heard me. He said he'd fail you. You've earned the grade your going to get. It's not fair for him to do this!"

"Five, I'm kind of used to it. It won't be a huge deal."

"Wait, you really think I'm going to let him get away with this shit?" Five looks at Sam, catching his eyes with a mischievous gleam. "Oh no, we're going to make a plan and take him down for this. And I know just who to ask."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time, but I haven't forgotten... I can't forget... So I hope you like this.

**Author's Note:**

> Don't know if clubs like this actually exist, but whatever. I like this story. I might continue it, but don't get too excited. If I do another chapter, it would take me forever. Title is from a song in Newsies on Broadway that I felt would embody the story as well as continue the proud tradition of song title titles from the game itself. If you read this far I commend you and thanks.


End file.
